Help-seeking and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough in a Chinese primary care population: a prospective multicentre observational study

NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine
Carmen Ka Man WongKenny Kung

Abstract

Acute cough is a common reason to prescribe antibiotics in primary care. This study aimed to explore help-seeking and antibiotic prescribing for acute cough in Chinese primary care population. This is a prospective multicentre observational study that included adults presenting with acute cough. Clinicians recorded patients' presenting symptoms, examination findings and medication prescription. Patients completed symptom diaries for up to 28 days by charting their symptom severity and recovery. Adjusted binary logistic regression models identified factors independently associated with antibiotic prescription. Primary care clinicians (n=19) recruited 455 patients. A total of 321 patients (70.5%) returned their completed symptom diaries. Concern about illness severity (41.6%) and obtaining a prescription for symptomatic medications (45.9%), rather than obtaining a prescription for antibiotics, were the main reasons for consulting. Antibiotics were prescribed for 6.8% (n=31) of patients, of which amoxicillin was the most common antimicrobial prescribed (61.3%), as it was associated with clinicians' perception of benefit from antibiotic treatment (odds ratio (OR): 25.9, 95% confidence interval (CI): 6.7-101.1), patients' expectatio...Continue Reading

References

Nov 6, 2003·American Journal of Public Health·Arch G MainousWilliam S Pearson
Jan 19, 2007·International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents·Jean-Claude PechèreGiuseppe Cornaglia
Oct 14, 2008·Health Policy·Lucy Reynolds, Martin McKee
Nov 7, 2012·International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents·António Teixeira RodriguesMaria Teresa Herdeiro
Feb 26, 2014·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Marleen HamoenUNKNOWN GRACE clinical study group
Oct 7, 2014·JAMA Internal Medicine·Jin WangYonghong Xiao

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Citations

Jul 12, 2019·Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Jia YinCecilia Stålsby Lundborg

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