Alternative approaches to managing respiratory tract infections: a survey of public perceptions

Abstract

Aim: to describe public perceptions regarding finger-prick testing, back-up antibiotic prescriptions (BUP), and alternatives to traditional consultations for RTIs, and identify factors associated with favouring these approaches.

 Design and setting: online national survey (HealthWise Wales) with linked primary care health record data. Methods: Survey item response distributions were described. Associations between responses about consultation alternatives, BUP and finger-prick point of care testing, and potential explanatory variables, were explored using logistic regression. 

Results: 8,752 participants completed the survey between 2016 and 2018. 76.7% (3,807/4,966) and 71.2% (3,529/4,953) of respondents with valid responses were in favour of being able to consult with a pharmacist or nurse in their GP surgery, or with a community pharmacist, respectively. 92.8% (8034/8659) of respondents indicated they would be happy to have a finger-prick test to guide antibiotic prescribing, and 31.8% (2746/8646) indicated they would like to be given a BUP if their clinician thought immediate antibiotics were not required. 47.4% (2342/4944) and 42.3% (2095/4949) were in favour of having video and email consultations respectively. Characteristics associated with different response options were identified.

Conclusion: consulting with pharmacists, using electronic communication tools, and finger-prick testing are widely acceptable approaches. BUP was described as acceptable less often and is likely to require greater information and support when used.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

ASCII CitationAtomBibTeXData Cite XMLDublin CoreDublin CoreEP3 XMLEndNoteHTML CitationHTML CitationHTML ListJSONMETSMODSMPEG-21 DIDLOpenURL ContextObjectOpenURL ContextObject in SpanRDF+N-TriplesRDF+N3RDF+XMLRIOXX2 XMLReferReference ManagerSimple Metadata

Altmetrics