ArticleFamily practice2015
Illness perception and related behaviour in lower respiratory tract infections—a European study.
Article in Family practice, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence, aetiologies and prognosis of the symptom cough in primary care: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC family practice · 2021Pooled it
- Acute Cough Due to Acute Bronchitis in Immunocompetent Adult Outpatients: CHEST Expert Panel Report.Chest · 2020Guideline
- Consultations, (antibiotic) prescriptions, and productivity losses of patients with community-acquired respiratory tract infection: country-specific findings from the PRUDENCE trial.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2026Article
- Breaking ICD Codes: Identifying Ambiguous Respiratory Infection Codes via Regional Diagnosis Heterogeneity.Annals of family medicine · 2025Article
- Prescription of EPs 7630 is associated with short- and long-term benefits in acute bronchitis: a real-world data analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Disease-Specific Quality Indicators for Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing for Respiratory Infections (ESAC Quality Indicators) Applied to Point Prevalence Audit Surveys in General Practices in 13 European Countries.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Effects of EPs 7630 on the duration of inability to work in acute bronchitis - a meta-analysis.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2023Article
- Effects of Pelargonium sidoides extract EPs 7630 on acute cough and quality of life - a meta-analysis of randomized, placebo-controlled trials.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2022Article
- Health-Economic Analyses of Diagnostics: Guidance on Design and Reporting.PharmacoEconomics · 2021Article
- Relationship between microbiology of throat swab and clinical course among primary care patients with acute cough: a prospective cohort study.Family practice · 2020Article
- From Visiting a Physician to Expecting Antibiotics: Korean Perspectives and Practices toward Respiratory Tract Infections.Journal of Korean medical science · 2017Article
- Effects of low-dose lipopolysaccharide and age on spatial learning in different Morris water maze protocols.SAGE open medicine · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a common presentation in primary care, but little is known about associated patients' illness perception and related behaviour.
objectiveTo describe illness perceptions and related behaviour in patients with LRTI visiting their general practitioner (GP) and identify differences between European regions and types of health care system.
methodsAdult patients presenting with acute cough were included. GPs recorded co morbidities and clinical findings. Patients filled out a diary for up to 4 weeks on their symptoms, illness perception and related behaviour. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions between groups and the Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis tests were used to compare means.
resultsThree thousand one hundred six patients from 12 European countries were included. Eighty-one per cent (n = 2530) of the patients completed the diary. Patients were feeling unwell for a mean of 9 (SD 8) days prior to consulting. More than half experienced impairment of normal or social activities for at least 1 week and were absent from work/school for a mean of 4 (SD 5) days. On average patients felt recovered 2 weeks after visiting their GP, but 21% (n = 539) of the patients did not feel recovered after 4 weeks. Twenty-seven per cent (n = 691) reported feeling anxious or depressed, and 28% (n = 702) re-consulted their GP at some point during the illness episode. Reported illness duration and days absent from work/school differed between countries and regions (North-West versus South-East), but there was little difference in reported illness course and related behaviour between health care systems (direct access versus gate-keeping).
conclusionIllness course, perception and related behaviour in LRTI differ considerably between countries. These finding should be taken into account when developing International guidelines for LRTI and interventions for setting realistic expectations about illness course.
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