PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Butler, Christopher C
AU  - Rollnick, Stephen
AU  - Kinnersley, Paul
AU  - Tapper-Jones, Lorna
AU  - Houston, Helen
TI  - Communicating about expected course and re-consultation for respiratory tract infections in children: an exploratory study
DP  - 2004 Jul 01
TA  - British Journal of General Practice
PG  - 536--538
VI  - 54
IP  - 504
4099  - http://bjgp.org/content/54/504/536.short
4100  - http://bjgp.org/content/54/504/536.full
SO  - Br J Gen Pract2004 Jul 01; 54
AB  - Acute respiratory tract infection is the commonest reason for children consulting, and about one-fifth re-consult for the same illness episode. Fifty-nine audiotape recordings from nine general practitioners (GPs) consulting with children with acute respiratory tract infections were examined. Prognosis was mentioned in only 22 consultations, with GPs predicting a brief course in 11, a possibly longer than expected course in six, and with predicted duration not made explicit in five. Carers were invited to re-consult if they were ‘unhappy’ with the child's condition in 11 consultations, and specific triggers to re-consult were provided in 15. A patient information leaflet was given out only once. Providing carers with an evidence-based account of the likely clinical course and communicating specific triggers to re-consult may help them manage more of these illness episodes without re-consulting.