PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W F Holmes
AU  - J T Macfarlane
AU  - R M Macfarlane
AU  - S Lewis
TI  - The influence of antibiotics and other factors on reconsultation for acute lower respiratory tract illness in primary care.
DP  - 1997 Dec 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 815--818
VI  - 47
IP  - 425
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/47/425/815.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/47/425/815.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract1997 Dec 01; 47
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antibiotics are prescribed to the majority of patients consulting their general practitioner (GP) for lower respiratory tract illness (LRTi). A common reason for prescription is the belief that antibiotics reduce re-attendance; a motive supported by the high reconsultation rates for this largely self-limiting illness. Information about reconsultation following treatment of LRTi, and the factors that influence it, is scarce. AIM: To explore factors associated with reconsultation after initial management of LRTi. METHOD: Analysis of data collected prospectively during presentation of acute LRTi in primary care. RESULTS: Seventy-six per cent of 518 patients were prescribed antibiotics, and 30% reconsulted for similar symptoms within the next 28 days (29% of those who were given antibiotics and 33% of those who were not). Forty-one per cent of patients who had seen their GP 15 or more times in the previous two years reconsulted, compared with 13% of those who had made fewer than five visits. Reconsultation was more common in patients with a history of underlying disease (38.6% versus 24.3%) and in patients who reported dyspnoea (41.5% versus 24.3%). CONCLUSION: Reconsultation is common in acute LRTi and is associated with a heightened consulting habit prior to the index consultation, the presence of previous ill health, and dyspnoea. It appears not to be influenced by prescribing antibiotics.