Cost-effectiveness of point-of-care C-reactive protein testing to inform antibiotic prescribing decisions

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Figure 1
Incremental net benefits (INB) of CRP versus no CRP (95% CI).
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Figure 2
Cost-effectiveness acceptability curve. CRP = C-reactive protein.

Table 2

Patient characteristics at first clinic visit

	CRP test administered, mean (SD)	No CRP test administered, mean (SD)	P-value
Age, years	51.73 (15.14)	52.30 (14.37)	0.75

Days of illness before consultation	10.25 (8.41)	11.04 (9.35)	0.45

EQ-5D at baseline	0.669 (0.19)	0.691 (0.20)	0.37

Severity score at baseline	41.77 (16.22)	39.08 (16.82)	0.19

Comorbidity	0.32 (0.53)	0.15 (0.39)	<0.01

Chest findings
Diminished breath sounds	0.09 (0.02)	0.07 (0.03)	0.36
Wheeze	0.21 (0.02)	0.09 (0.03)	0.01
Crackles	0.19 (0.02)	0.15 (0.04)	0.40
Rhonchi	0.18 (0.02)	0.12 (0.04)	0.20

Table 3

Relationship between administration of CRP test patient outcomes and resource use

	Without adjustment for cofactors			With adjustment for cofactors
	Coefficient	95% CI	P-value	Coefficient	95% CI	P-value
Antibiotic prescribing^a	−0.01	−0.13 to 0.11	0.87	−0.10	−0.20 to 0.01	0.08
Costs, €	11.26	−1.87 to 24.41	0.09	11.27	−1.86 to 24.41	0.09
Severity day 7^a	−0.38	−4.15 to 3.39	0.84	−0.20	−3.77 to 3.37	0.91
Severity day 14^a	0.97	−2.44 to 4.38	0.58	1.34	−2.23 to 4.91	0.46
EQ-5D week 1	0.02	−0.03 to 0.07	0.48	0.02	−0.28 to 0.07	0.43
EQ-5D week 2	0.04	−0.01 to 0.08	0.09	0.03	−0.02 to 0.07	0.24
Days to recovery^a	0.07	−2.04 to 2.18	0.95	0.50	−1.62 to 2.62	0.65
QALY gain	0.002	−0.001 to 0.004	0.26	0.0012	−0.001 to 0.004	0.35
Day patient felt well^a	−0.42	−2.57 to 1.72	0.70	−0.95	−3.21 to 1.31	0.41
GP visits	0.10	−0.06 to 0.26	0.22	0.13	−0.05 to 0.30	0.15
Hospital admissions	−0.02	−0.04 to −0.01	0.01	−0.02	−0.04 to −0.002	0.03
Medical investigations	1.27	1.10 to 1.45	<0.01	1.28	1.10 to 1.47	<0.01
Nurse visits	0.01	−0.05 to 0.07	0.79	0.02	−0.05 to 0.09	0.63
Specialist visits	0.01	−0.01 to 0.02	0.42	0.01	−0.01 to 0.03	0.42
Out of hours GP	−0.02	−0.05 to 0.02	0.37	−0.03	−0.07 to 0.01	0.12