ReviewThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2013
Expectations for consultations and antibiotics for respiratory tract infection in primary care: the RTI clinical iceberg.
Review in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 173 citations in OpenAlex.
- The vicious cycle of the public's irrational use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections: A mixed methods systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Public target interventions to reduce the inappropriate use of medicines or medical procedures: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2020Pooled it
- Comparing the Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Public Health Messaging Experiment.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Trial
- The effects of communicating illness diagnostic and treatment information and C-reactive protein test results on people's antibiotic expectations.British journal of health psychology · 2025Trial
- Influence of a guideline or an additional rapid strep test on antibiotic prescriptions for sore throat: the cluster randomized controlled trial of HALS (Hals und Antibiotika Leitlinien Strategien).BMC primary care · 2023Trial
- Risk factors for community-acquired respiratory infections in a non-pandemic context: Secondary analysis of the PRIMIT study.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Echinacea reduces antibiotic usage in children through respiratory tract infection prevention: a randomized, blinded, controlled clinical trial.European journal of medical research · 2021Trial
- Reducing Primary Care Attendance Intentions for Pediatric Respiratory Tract Infections.Annals of family medicine · 2019Trial
- Effects of primary care antimicrobial stewardship outreach on antibiotic use by general practice staff: pragmatic randomized controlled trial of the TARGET antibiotics workshop.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2018Trial
- Qualitative interview study of antibiotics and self-management strategies for respiratory infections in primary care.BMJ open · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Exploring patients' views of primary care consultations with contrasting interventions for acute cough: a six-country European qualitative study.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2014Trial
- Is C-reactive protein the answer to antibiotics over-prescribing in primary care? A behavioural experiment in two European countries.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2026Article
- Do individual or societal consequences matter more? Reducing antibiotic expectations for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in females.British journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- A survey of parental health-seeking behaviour, knowledge, and expectations around ear infection symptoms in children.BJGP open · 2026Article
- Factors driving antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance among college-going students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Feasibility of C-reactive protein point-of-care testing for antibiotic stewardship in rural GP-pharmacy settings.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2026Article
- Antibiotic use and survival from breast cancer: A population-based cohort study in England and Wales.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Recovery attributions and future expectations for antibiotics after precautionary prescribing.European journal of public health · 2025Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRespiratory tract infection (RTI) is the commonest indication for community antibiotic prescriptions. Prescribing is rising and is influenced by patients' consulting behaviour and beliefs.
aimTo build up a profile of the 'RTI clinical iceberg' by exploring how the general public manage RTI, visit GPs and why. DESIGN AND
settingTwo-phase qualitative and quantitative study in England.
methodQualitative interviews with 17 participants with acute RTI visiting pharmacies in England, and face-to-face questionnaire survey of 1767 adults ≥15 years in households in England during January 2011.
resultsQualitative interviews: interviewees with RTI visited GPs if they considered their symptoms were prolonged, or severe enough to cause pain, or interfered with daily activities or sleep. Questionnaire: 58% reported having had an RTI in the previous 6 months, and 19.7% (95% CI = 16.8 to 22.9%) of these contacted or visited their GP surgery for this, most commonly because 'the symptoms were severe'; or 'after several days the symptoms hadn't improved'; 10.3% of those experiencing an RTI (or 53.1% of those contacting their GP about it) expected an antibiotic prescription. Responders were more likely to believe antibiotics would be effective for a cough with green rather than clear phlegm. Perceptions of side effects of antibiotics did not influence expectations for antibiotics. Almost all who reported asking for an antibiotic were prescribed one, but 25% did not finish them.
conclusionOne-fifth of those with an RTI contact their GP and most who ask for antibiotics are prescribed them. A better public understanding about the lack of benefit of antibiotics for most RTIs and addressing concerns about illness duration and severity, could reduce GP consultations and antibiotic prescriptions for RTI.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.