C-reactive protein measurement in general practice may lead to lower antibiotic prescribing for sinusitis

Article Figures & Data

Download figure
Open in new tab
Download powerpoint
Figure 1
Relation between level of C-reactive protein, number of patients treated with sinusitis and antibiotic treatment.

Table 1

Comparison between practices that use the C-reactive protein rapid test and practices that do not.

	Practices using CRP rapid tests (n = 281)	Practices not using CRP rapid tests (n = 86)
Antibiotic prescribing rate for upper RTIs (% [95% CI])
Acute sinusitis	59 (56 to 62)	78 (73 to 82)
Acute tonsillitis	42 (40 to 44)	46 (42 to 50)
Acute otitis	48 (45 to 50)	48 (43 to 53)
RTI patient characteristics
Median (IQR) age of patients with RTIs in years	26 (4–47)	27 (4–48)
Median (IQR) age of patients with sinusitis in years	40 (31–53)	41 (31–54)
Percentage (95% CI) of female patients with RTIs	56 (55 to 57)	59 (57 to 60)
Percentage (95% CI) of female patients with sinusitis	68 (65 to 71)	72 (67 to 76)
Median (IQR) of patients with RTIs per GP	47 (34–58)	47 (35–70)
Practice characteristics
Percentage (95% CI) of GPs in group practices	64 (58 to 70)	57 (48 to 68)
Median (IQR) of patients listed per practice	2150 (1600–3900)	1875 (1610–3050)
Median (IQR) age of GPs (years)	49 (45–54)	52 (46–56)
Percentage (95% CI) of female GPs	36 (25 to 47)	38 (32 to 45)
Percentage (95% CI) of GPs with high workload^a	50 (44 to 56)	55 (44 to 66)

↵^aSelf-assessed. CRP = C-reactive protein; IQR = interquartile range; RTI = respiratory tract infection.