Trial reportBMJ open2018
Qualitative study to explore the views of general practice staff on the use of point-of-care C reactive protein testing for the management of lower respiratory tract infections in routine general practice in England.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Point-of-care tests to manage acute respiratory tract infections in primary care: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of healthcare professional and patient views.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2025Pooled it
- Improving healthcare professionals' interactions with patients to tackle antimicrobial resistance: a systematic review of interventions, barriers, and facilitators.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Clinicians' perspectives on a primary healthcare intervention to reduce antibiotic prescription for acute lower respiratory tract infections in Barcelona (Spain): a qualitative study.Primary health care research & development · 2025Trial
- Rapid microbiological respiratory point-of-care testing: a qualitative study with primary care clinicians.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Trial
- Use of the FebriDx® host-response point-of-care test may reduce antibiotic use for respiratory tract infections in primary care: a mixed-methods feasibility study.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Trial
- Effects of primary care C-reactive protein point-of-care testing on antibiotic prescribing by general practice staff: pragmatic randomised controlled trial, England, 2016 and 2017.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2020Trial
- Out-of-hours C-reactive protein point-of-care testing and its association with long-term healthcare-seeking.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Use of qualitative and mixed methods research in diagnostic technology evaluation and implementation: insights from a systematic review.Diagnostic and prognostic research · 2026Review
- Implementation of C-Reactive Protein Point-of-Care Testing for Respiratory Tract Infections in Primary Care: A Systematic Review Using the RE-AIM Framework.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Perspectives on innovation of the diagnostic process in general practice: Q-methodological study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- How to identify respiratory pathogens in primary health care - a review on the benefits, prospects and pitfalls in using point of care tests.Infection · 2025Review
- Views of Spanish primary care professionals on respiratory tract infection testing: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluation of utilisation and consequences of CRP point-of-care-testing in primary care practices: qualitative interviews with GPs from Germany.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Article
- Perception of antimicrobial stewardship interventions in Swiss primary care: a mixed-methods survey.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Qualitative evaluation of a molecular point-of-care testing study for influenza in UK primary care.BJGP open · 2024Article
- How, why and when are delayed (back-up) antibiotic prescriptions used in primary care? A realist review integrating concepts of uncertainty in healthcare.BMC public health · 2024Review
- Use of the FebriDx point-of-care test for lower respiratory tract infections in primary care: a qualitative interview study.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore the knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs of general practice staff about C reactive protein (CRP) point-of-care tests (POCTs) in routine general practice and associated barriers and facilitators to implementing it to improve the management of acute cough.
designA qualitative methodology including interviews and focus groups using the Com-B framework to understand individuals' behaviour to implement CRP POCT in routine general practice. Data were analysed inductively and then aligned to the Com-B framework.
settingA service evaluation of CRP POCT over a 6-month period was previously conducted in randomly selected GP practices from a high prescribing National Health Service Clinicial Commissioning Groups in England. All 11 intervention practices (eight accepting CRPs; three declining CRPs) and the eight control practices, which were not offered CRP POCT, were also invited to interview. A further randomly selected practice not allocated to intervention or control was also invited to participate.
participantsSeven of eight accepting CRP, one of three declining CRP and four of nine control practices consented to participate. 12 practices and 26 general practice staff participated; 11 interviews, 3 focus groups and 1 hand-written response.
resultsParticipants reported that CRP POCT can increase diagnostic certainty for acute cough, inform appropriate management, manage patient expectations for antibiotics, support patient education and improve appropriate antibiotic prescribing. Reported barriers to implementing CRP POCT included: CRP cost, time, easy access to the POCT machine and effects on clinical workflow. Participants with greater CRP use usually had a dedicated staff member with the machine located in their consultation room.
conclusionsCRP POCT can help general practice staff improve patient care and education if incorporated into routine care, but this will need enthusiasts with dedicated POCT instruments or smaller, cheaper, more portable machines. In addition, funding will be needed to support test costs and staff time.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.