ArticleFamily practice2016
Necessity of office visits for acute respiratory infections in primary care.
Article in Family practice, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial prescription pattern and appropriateness for respiratory tract infection in outpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- The diagnostic utility of heparin-binding protein among patients with bacterial infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Pooled it
- Chinese medicineFrontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Exercise versus no exercise for the occurrence, severity, and duration of acute respiratory infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Causes of fever in primary care in Southeast Asia and the performance of C-reactive protein in discriminating bacterial from viral pathogens.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Evaluating the Effect of a Molecular Point-of-Care Test on Acute Respiratory Infections in General Practice: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Article
- Changes in primary care visits for respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multinational study by the International Consortium of Primary Care Big Data Researchers (INTRePID).Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Common Bacterial Infections during the 3-Month Period after SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Rapid, Point-of-Care Host-Based Gene Expression Diagnostics Using Giant Magnetoresistive Biosensors.ACS sensors · 2023Article
- Diagnostic Accuracy of a Bacterial and Viral Biomarker Point-of-Care Test in the Outpatient Setting.JAMA network open · 2022Article
- The protocol of improving safe antibiotic prescribing in telehealth: A randomized trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2022Article
- Timing of sinusitis and other respiratory tract diseases and risk of rheumatoid arthritis.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2022Article
- Factors associated with C-reactive protein testing when prescribing antibiotics in general practice: a register-based study.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- 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 care utilization following "digi-physical" assessment compared to physical assessment for infectious symptoms in primary care.BMC primary care · 2022Article
- How are reasons for encounter associated with influenza-like illness and acute respiratory infection diagnoses and interventions? A cohort study in eight Italian general practice populations.BMC family practice · 2021Article
- FebriDxMolecular diagnosis & therapy · 2019Article
- PURL: Can vitamin D prevent acute respiratory infections?The Journal of family practice · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAcute respiratory infections (ARIs) are the most common symptomatic reason to seek ambulatory care, but many ARI visits may not be necessary.
objectiveTo measure the proportion of primary care ARI visits that may not require an office visit.
methodsWe identified 58398 ARI visits to 14 primary care practices between May 2011 and May 2012 and randomly selected 500 visits, 439 of which were new ARI visits. We separated non-visit-required information [e.g. history of present illness (HPI), past medical history, etc.] from information that required an office visit (e.g. physical exam, testing, etc.). Reviewing non-visit-required information, we identified the diagnosis (HPI diagnosis) and whether office visit appeared necessary. Independently, we reviewed the visit-required information and determined if the visit changed antibiotic management.
resultsBased on non-visit-required information, 72% (316/439) of visits did not appear to require an office visit. The most common diagnoses were non-specific upper respiratory infection (39%), sinusitis (24%) and acute bronchitis (22%). The HPI diagnosis was an exact match for clinicians' diagnosis in 67% (213/316) of visits. After reviewing the visit-required information, antibiotic management did not change for 87% (276/316) of visits. For the remaining 13% (40/316) for which the visit changed management, the clinician prescribed an antibiotic for an antibiotic-appropriate diagnosis (65%; 26/40); prescribed an antibiotic for a non-antibiotic-appropriate diagnosis (25%; 10/40); or avoided an antibiotic prescription for patients with an HPI diagnosis of sinusitis (10%; 4/40).
conclusionAbout two-thirds of primary care ARI visits may not be necessary for appropriate antibiotic management.
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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.