Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40920832›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Effect of C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A point-of-care testing on antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory-tract infections at village clinics in China: A study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Minzhi Xu, Zhitong Zhang, Erjia Ge, Charis Xuan Xie, Xinyu Bai, Yuting Zhu, Guangjin Kuang, Jinxi Li, Jing Wang, Xiaolin Wei and 1 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06568432 (Effect of C-reactive Protein and Serum Amyloid A Point-of-care Testing on Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory-tract Infections at Village Clinics in China), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06568432 nacompletednot on this map

Effect of C-reactive Protein and Serum Amyloid A Point-of-care Testing on Antibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory-tract Infections at Village Clinics in China: a Study Protocol for a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyRan2025 to 2025Enrolled35,108ConditionsAntibiotic Prescribing for Acute Respiratory-tract InfectionsArmsCRP+SAA POCT
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Minzhi XuDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Zhitong ZhangDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Erjia GeDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Charis Xuan XieWolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, England, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-0029-9159
Xinyu BaiDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Yuting ZhuDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Guangjin KuangDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Jinxi LiDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Jing WangDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Xiaolin WeiDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Xiaoxv YinDepartment of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.ORCID 0000-0002-5020-2984

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAntimicrobial resistance is a globally recognised public health threat. In rural China, antibiotic use is common for acute respiratory infections (ARIs), which include symptoms such as coughing and fever that are most likely viral infections but with a small proportion as bacterial infections. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive intervention based on C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A point-of-care testing (CRP&SAA POCT) in reducing the inappropriate use of antibiotics for ARIs in Chinese village clinics.

methodsThis is a pragmatic, parallel-group, controlled, cluster-randomised, superiority trial featuring blinded outcome evaluation and data analysis, along with unblinded treatment. This study will be conducted over a period of six months across 40 village clinics in Hubei, China. CRP&SAA POCT will be implemented in 20 village clinics within the intervention arm. This will include additional training for village doctors on the operations of CRP&SAA POCT, which encompasses centralised training, the distribution of training manuals, and desk reminders. Patient education materials will be provided to assist patients in understanding how CRP&SAA POCT can aid in their diagnosis and treatment. The control arm will not receive any intervention except the usual care. The primary outcome is the proportion of patients of all age groups who are diagnosed with ARIs and prescribed antibiotics during their initial visit in both study arms. All analyses will be conducted using the intention-to-treat approach. DISCUSSION: Our study is one of the first trials utilizing CRP&SAA POCT to address the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics for ARIs in village clinics in China. We will also evaluate the implementation process to inform future scale-up in similar resource constrained settings.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier - NCT06568432.

Indexed as

Anti-Bacterial AgentsC-Reactive ProteinPoint-of-Care TestingRespiratory Tract InfectionsSerum Amyloid A ProteinAdultChinaEquivalence Trials as TopicFemaleHumansInappropriate PrescribingMalePragmatic Clinical Trials as TopicRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAnti-Bacterial AgentsC-Reactive ProteinSerum Amyloid A Protein

Identifiers

PMID40920832
PMCPMC12416646

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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.