Observational studyPloS one2016
Family Practitioners' Advice about Taking Time Off Work for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: A Prospective Study in Twelve European Primary Care Networks.
Observational study in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of vitamin D supplementation on acute respiratory tract infections in 6-8-year-old children: a randomized clinical trial.European journal of nutrition · 2025Trial
- Effects of EPs 7630 on the duration of inability to work in acute bronchitis - a meta-analysis.Multidisciplinary respiratory medicine · 2023Article
- Primary Care Physicians' Learning Needs in Returning Ill or Injured Workers to Work. A Scoping Review.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute cough and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are one of the most important causes of lost working hours.
aimto explore variation and predictors in family practitioners (FPs) advice to patients with LRTIs about taking time off work in different European countries.
methodsProspective observational study in primary care networks in 12 countries, with multilevel mixed-effects binomial logistic regression.
results324 FPs recruited 1616 employed adults who presented to primary care with LRTIs. The proportion of patients advised to take time off work varied from 7.6% in the Netherlands to 89.2% in Slovakia, and of these, 88.2% overall were advised to stay off work for seven days or less. None of Finnish or Dutch patients were advised to take more than 7 days off, in contrast to 35.5% of Polish and 27.0% of Slovak patients. The strongest predictors of FPs' advice about time off work were: patient symptoms interfering with normal activities (OR 4.43; P<0.001), fever (2.49; P<0.001), patients feeling generally unwell (2.21; P<0.001), antibiotic prescribing (1.51; P = 0.025) and auscultation abnormality (1.50; P = 0.029). Advice to take time off was not associated with patient reported recovery.
conclusionsThere is large variation in FPs' advice given to patients with LRTIs in Europe about taking time off work, which is not explained by differences in patients' reported illness duration, but might be explained by differences in regulations around certification and sick pay. Evidence based guidance for advising patients about taking time off work for this common condition is needed.
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