Respiratory tract infections in children in the community: Prospective online inception cohort study

Alastair D. Hay; Emma Anderson; Sue Ingle; Charles Beck; William Hollingworth

doi:10.1370/afm.2327

Respiratory tract infections in children in the community: Prospective online inception cohort study

Alastair D. Hay^*, Emma Anderson, Sue Ingle, Charles Beck, William Hollingworth

^*Corresponding author for this work

Field Epidemiology (South West)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

PURPOSE Describe the duration of symptoms, proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations, and costs for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of children in the community. METHODS Community-based, online, prospective inception cohort study. General practitioners from socioeconomically diverse practices posted study invitations to parents of 10,310 children aged ≥3 months and <15 years. RESULTS One parent of 485 (4.7%) children in 331 families consented, completed baseline data and symptom diaries, and agreed to medical record review. Compared with nonresponders, responding parent’s children were younger (aged 4 vs 6 years) and less socioeconomically deprived. Between February and July 2016, 206 parents reported 346 new RTIs in 259 children. Among the 197 first RTIs reported per family, it took 23 days for 90% (95% CI, 85%-94%) of children to recover. Median symptom duration was longer: in children with primary care consultations (9 days) vs those without consultations (6 days, P = 0.06); children aged <3 years (11 days) vs >3 years (7 days, P <.01); and among children with reported lower RTI symptoms (12 days) vs those with only upper RTI symptoms (8 days, P <.001). Sixteen (8.1%; 95% CI, 4.7%-12.8%) of 197 children had primary care consultations at least once (total 19 consultations), and a similar proportion had time off school or nursery. Sixty of 188 (32%; 95% CI, 25%-39%) parents reported paying for medications for their child’s illness. CONCLUSIONS Parents can be advised that RTI symptoms last up to 3 weeks. Policy makers should be aware that parents may seek primary care support in at least 1 in 12 illnesses.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14-22
Number of pages	9
Journal	Annals of Family Medicine
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2327
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding support: This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012).

Funding Information:
This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012). The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approv‏a‏ls were obtained before recruitment. All participants’ parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals.

Funding Information:
The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approvals were obtained before recruitment. All participants’ parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Anti-bacterial agents
Child
Primary health care
Respiratory tract infections

Access to Document

10.1370/afm.2327

Cite this

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title = "Respiratory tract infections in children in the community: Prospective online inception cohort study",

abstract = "PURPOSE Describe the duration of symptoms, proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations, and costs for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of children in the community. METHODS Community-based, online, prospective inception cohort study. General practitioners from socioeconomically diverse practices posted study invitations to parents of 10,310 children aged ≥3 months and <15 years. RESULTS One parent of 485 (4.7%) children in 331 families consented, completed baseline data and symptom diaries, and agreed to medical record review. Compared with nonresponders, responding parent{\textquoteright}s children were younger (aged 4 vs 6 years) and less socioeconomically deprived. Between February and July 2016, 206 parents reported 346 new RTIs in 259 children. Among the 197 first RTIs reported per family, it took 23 days for 90% (95% CI, 85%-94%) of children to recover. Median symptom duration was longer: in children with primary care consultations (9 days) vs those without consultations (6 days, P = 0.06); children aged <3 years (11 days) vs >3 years (7 days, P <.01); and among children with reported lower RTI symptoms (12 days) vs those with only upper RTI symptoms (8 days, P <.001). Sixteen (8.1%; 95% CI, 4.7%-12.8%) of 197 children had primary care consultations at least once (total 19 consultations), and a similar proportion had time off school or nursery. Sixty of 188 (32%; 95% CI, 25%-39%) parents reported paying for medications for their child{\textquoteright}s illness. CONCLUSIONS Parents can be advised that RTI symptoms last up to 3 weeks. Policy makers should be aware that parents may seek primary care support in at least 1 in 12 illnesses.",

keywords = "Anti-bacterial agents, Child, Primary health care, Respiratory tract infections",

author = "Hay, {Alastair D.} and Emma Anderson and Sue Ingle and Charles Beck and William Hollingworth",

note = "Funding Information: Funding support: This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012). Funding Information: This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012). The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approv‏a‏ls were obtained before recruitment. All participants{\textquoteright} parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals. Funding Information: The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approvals were obtained before recruitment. All participants{\textquoteright} parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved.",

year = "2019",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1370/afm.2327",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

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journal = "Annals of Family Medicine",

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AU - Hay, Alastair D.

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AU - Beck, Charles

AU - Hollingworth, William

N1 - Funding Information: Funding support: This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012). Funding Information: This study was partly supported by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at University of Bristol. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health, or Public Health England. The Bristol Randomized Trials Collaboration (BRTC) has contributed funding and input into study outputs via development work on the database system used to coordinate the study and collect data from participants. A.D.H. was funded by NIHR Research Professorship (NIHR-RP-02-12-012). The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approv‏a‏ls were obtained before recruitment. All participants’ parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals. Funding Information: The South West Frenchay Bristol Research Ethics Committee approved the study (reference: 15/SW/0264), and research governance approvals were obtained before recruitment. All participants’ parent or legal caregivers gave written, informed consent on behalf of the child. All children aged 7 years by September 2015 (equivalent of school year 3) and over gave informed assent. The study was sponsored by the University of Bristol, which ensured the study met all regulatory approvals. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2019/1/1

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N2 - PURPOSE Describe the duration of symptoms, proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations, and costs for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of children in the community. METHODS Community-based, online, prospective inception cohort study. General practitioners from socioeconomically diverse practices posted study invitations to parents of 10,310 children aged ≥3 months and <15 years. RESULTS One parent of 485 (4.7%) children in 331 families consented, completed baseline data and symptom diaries, and agreed to medical record review. Compared with nonresponders, responding parent’s children were younger (aged 4 vs 6 years) and less socioeconomically deprived. Between February and July 2016, 206 parents reported 346 new RTIs in 259 children. Among the 197 first RTIs reported per family, it took 23 days for 90% (95% CI, 85%-94%) of children to recover. Median symptom duration was longer: in children with primary care consultations (9 days) vs those without consultations (6 days, P = 0.06); children aged <3 years (11 days) vs >3 years (7 days, P <.01); and among children with reported lower RTI symptoms (12 days) vs those with only upper RTI symptoms (8 days, P <.001). Sixteen (8.1%; 95% CI, 4.7%-12.8%) of 197 children had primary care consultations at least once (total 19 consultations), and a similar proportion had time off school or nursery. Sixty of 188 (32%; 95% CI, 25%-39%) parents reported paying for medications for their child’s illness. CONCLUSIONS Parents can be advised that RTI symptoms last up to 3 weeks. Policy makers should be aware that parents may seek primary care support in at least 1 in 12 illnesses.

AB - PURPOSE Describe the duration of symptoms, proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations, and costs for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of children in the community. METHODS Community-based, online, prospective inception cohort study. General practitioners from socioeconomically diverse practices posted study invitations to parents of 10,310 children aged ≥3 months and <15 years. RESULTS One parent of 485 (4.7%) children in 331 families consented, completed baseline data and symptom diaries, and agreed to medical record review. Compared with nonresponders, responding parent’s children were younger (aged 4 vs 6 years) and less socioeconomically deprived. Between February and July 2016, 206 parents reported 346 new RTIs in 259 children. Among the 197 first RTIs reported per family, it took 23 days for 90% (95% CI, 85%-94%) of children to recover. Median symptom duration was longer: in children with primary care consultations (9 days) vs those without consultations (6 days, P = 0.06); children aged <3 years (11 days) vs >3 years (7 days, P <.01); and among children with reported lower RTI symptoms (12 days) vs those with only upper RTI symptoms (8 days, P <.001). Sixteen (8.1%; 95% CI, 4.7%-12.8%) of 197 children had primary care consultations at least once (total 19 consultations), and a similar proportion had time off school or nursery. Sixty of 188 (32%; 95% CI, 25%-39%) parents reported paying for medications for their child’s illness. CONCLUSIONS Parents can be advised that RTI symptoms last up to 3 weeks. Policy makers should be aware that parents may seek primary care support in at least 1 in 12 illnesses.

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Respiratory tract infections in children in the community: Prospective online inception cohort study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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