Table 2

Predictors of duration of cough until a slight problem or less.

β (95% CI)Adjusted βa (95% CI)P-value
Clinical assessment
 Prior duration, days0.10 (0.04 to 0.17)0.11 (0.03 to 0.18)0.004b
 History of fever−0.60 (−0.36 to −1.56)−1.22 (−0.18 to −2.27)0.022
 Green-coloured sputum−0.19 (−1.11 to 0.73)−0.79 (−1.79 to 0.21)0.119
 Sore throat0.61 (−0.38 to 1.59)0.21 (−0.86 to 1.27)0.702
 Runny nose−1.43 (−0.43 to −2.42)−1.35 (−0.31 to −2.39)0.011
 Prolonged expiration3.08 (0.22 to 5.94)1.06 (4.23 to −2.11)0.512
 Respiration rate, ≥20/min−0.06 (−1.14 to 1.02)0.04 (−0.06 to 0.15)0.415
 Temperature, ≥37.0°C−1.15 (−2.15 to −0.15)−1.05 (0.03 to −2.12)0.056
 Coarse crepitations0.58 (−0.72 to 1.89)0.09 (−1.28 to 1.45)0.901
 Wheeze0.69 (−0.71 to 2.08)0.17 (−1.32 to 1.70)0.807
 Fine crepitations−0.56 (−3.41 to 2.29)0.02 (−2.94 to 2.97)0.991
 Smoker−0.03 (−1.31 to 1.26)−0.19 (−1.62 to 1.24)0.795
Age
 Older age, ≥60 years−0.99 (−3.08 to 0.22)−0.94 (−2.22 to 0.34)0.149
 Children, <16 years−1.87 (−3.08 to −0.65)−1.72 (−3.02 to −0.41)0.010b
Symptoms on day 1
 Cough0.62 (0.19 to 1.06)0.36 (−0.12 to 0.84)0.137
 Sputum0.34 (0.02 to 0.67)0.14 (−0.20 to 0.49)0.42
 Short of breath0.22 (−0.10 to 0.55)−0.03 (−0.39 to 0.32)0.851
 Sleep0.28 (−0.02 to 0.58)0.00 (−0.34 to 0.35)0.986
 Restriction of activities0.57 (0.25 to 0.89)0.69 (0.36 to 1.02)<0.001b
 Unwell0.35 (0.01 to 0.69)−0.03 (−0.53 to 0.47)0.909

  • The β estimates are the estimate of the number of days' difference in duration attributable to each variable.

  • ↵a The estimates for each variable controls for the effects of the other variables and the randomised interventions.

  • ↵b P-value is significant at ≤ 0.01.