Clinical course of suspected viral sore throat in young adults: Cohort study

被引:23
作者
Lindbaek, M
Francis, N
Cannings-John, R
Butler, CC
Hjortdahl, P
机构
[1] Univ Oslo, Dept Gen Practice & Community Med, NO-0317 Oslo, Norway
[2] Cardiff Univ, Dept Gen Practice, Cardiff, Wales
关键词
family practice; natural course; non-streptococcal; primary care; sore throat;
D O I
10.1080/02813430600638227
中图分类号
R19 [保健组织与事业(卫生事业管理)];
学科分类号
摘要
Objective. To evaluate the natural clinical course of suspected viral sore throat. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Five military camps in Norway. Methods. In a randomized placebo-controlled trial comparing the effect of bovine colostrum tablets or placebo on non-streptococcal sore throat in young adults no statistically significant difference in illness duration was found. The participants were thus regarded as one cohort. The authors analysed 10.0 cm visual analogue scales ( VAS) scores for 'sickness' and sore throat, using 1.0 cm as a cut-off for recovery. They furthermore explored whether the VAS for sore throat was a good test to discriminate between recovered/not recovered by use of a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results. For sore throat, it was found that 51% had recovered by day 6 and 91% had recovered by day 8. Similarly for sickness, 65% had recovered by day 6 and 94% by day 8. The daily VAS scores for 'sickness' and sore throat were highly correlated ( p = 0.001). The mean day of recovery from 'sickness' and sore throats ( based on VAS scores) was 5.5 and 4.7 respectively and 5.3 based on the dichotomous outcome for throat pain. The ROC curve revealed that a VAS score < 1.0 was the best cut-off point for recovery, with a sensitivity of 0.74 and a specificity of 0.90. Conclusion. Almost all the patients had recovered by day 8. A high correlation was found between sickness and sore throat. These data will assist clinicians and others promoting self-care to set realistic expectations regarding recovery from URTI in young adults.
引用
收藏
页码:93 / 97
页数:5
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