ArticlePrimary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group2013
Marked differences in GPs' diagnosis of pneumonia between Denmark and Spain: a cross-sectional study.
Article in Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- Diagnosing acute lower respiratory tract infections in out-of-hours services during the COVID-19 pandemic.International journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Management and documentation of pneumonia - a comparison of patients consulting primary care and emergency care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Article
- Danish GPs' Experiences When Managing Patients Presenting to General Practice with Symptoms of Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: A Qualitative Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Acute lower respiratory tract infections: Symptoms, findings and management in Danish general practice.The European journal of general practice · 2020Article
- C-reactive protein influences the doctor's degree of suspicion of pneumonia in primary care: a prospective observational study.The European journal of general practice · 2020Observational
- Use of chest X-ray in the assessment of community acquired pneumonia in primary care - an intervention study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2020Article
- Change in the use of diagnostic tests in the management of lower respiratory tract infections: a register-based study in primary care.BJGP open · 2020Article
- Clinical factors, C-reactive protein point of care test and chest X-ray in patients with pneumonia: A survey in primary care.The European journal of general practice · 2019Article
- Community-acquired pneumonia in primary care: clinical assessment and the usability of chest radiography.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2016Article
- Narrative review of primary care point-of-care testing (POCT) and antibacterial use in respiratory tract infection (RTI).BMJ open respiratory research · 2015Article
- Antibiotic Resistance: What are the Opportunities for Primary Care in Alleviating the Crisis?Frontiers in public health · 2015Review
- The debated problem of community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis: many guidelines, any guideline?Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group · 2013Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) it is a challenge to identify who should be treated with antibiotics. According to international guidelines, antibiotics should be prescribed to patients with suspected pneumonia while acute bronchitis is considered a viral infection and should, generally, not be treated with antibiotics. Overdiagnosis of pneumonia in patients with LRTIs may lead to antibiotic overprescribing.
aimsTo investigate the prevalence of presumed pneumonia in patients with LRTI in two countries with different antibiotic prescribing rates (Denmark and Spain) and to compare which symptoms and clinical tests are of most importance for the GP when choosing a diagnosis of pneumonia rather than acute bronchitis.
methodsA cross-sectional study including GPs from Denmark and Spain was conducted as part of the EU-funded project HAPPY AUDIT. A total of 2,698 patients with LRTI were included.
resultsIn Denmark, 47% of the patients with LRTI were classified with a diagnosis of pneumonia compared with 11% in Spain. In Spain, fever and a positive x-ray weighted significantly more in the diagnosis of pneumonia than in Denmark. Danish GPs, however, attached more importance to dyspnoea/polypnoea and C-reactive protein levels >50mg/L. None of the other typical symptoms of pneumonia had a significant influence.
conclusionsOur results indicate that GPs' diagnostic criteria for pneumonia differ substantially between Denmark and Spain. The high prevalence of pneumonia among Danish patients with LRTI may indicate overdiagnosis of pneumonia which, in turn, may lead to antibiotic overprescribing.
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