Table 1.
Low impact consultations and high impact non-consultations in the previous two weeks by symptom
| Level of symptom seriousness * | Symptom | n | Low impact consultations † | High impact non-consultations †† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | |||
| 1 | Feeling tired/run down | 887 | 12 | 1.4 | 201 | 22.7 |
| Difficulty sleeping | 607 | 12 | 2.0 | 155 | 25.5 | |
| Sore throat | 411 | 17 | 4.1 | 39 | 9.5 | |
| Cold or flu symptoms | 372 | 9 | 2.4 | 52 | 14.0 | |
| Diarrhoea | 266 | 9 | 3.4 | 37 | 13.9 | |
| Loss of appetite | 117 | 6 | 5.1 | 16 | 13.7 | |
| 2 | Back pain | 653 | 15 | 2.3 | 144 | 22.1 |
| Nervousness/anxiety | 405 | 10 | 2.5 | 88 | 21.7 | |
| Cough | 372 | 12 | 3.2 | 48 | 12.9 | |
| Nausea/feeling sick | 259 | 6 | 2.3 | 36 | 13.9 | |
| Constipation | 203 | 4 | 2.0 | 11 | 5.4 | |
| Vomiting | 95 | 2 | 2.1 | 24 | 25.3 | |
| 3 | Headaches | 845 | 5 | 0.6 | 143 | 16.9 |
| Joint pain | 678 | 30 | 4.4 | 141 | 20.8 | |
| Indigestion/heartburn | 392 | 13 | 3.3 | 41 | 10.5 | |
| Feeling depressed | 353 | 12 | 3.4 | 100 | 28.3 | |
| Stomach/abdominal pain | 337 | 20 | 5.9 | 66 | 19.6 | |
| Dizziness | 194 | 9 | 4.6 | 21 | 10.8 | |
| Wheezy chest | 158 | 14 | 8.9 | 16 | 10.1 | |
| Fainting | 14 | 2 | 14.3 | 4 | 28.6 | |
| 4 | Shortness of breath | 176 | 15 | 8.5 | 23 | 13.1 |
| Blood in stool | 52 | 9 | 17.3 | 1 | 1.9 | |
| Unintentional weight loss | 37 | 3 | 8.1 | 5 | 13.5 | |
| 5 | Chest pain | 108 | 8 | 7.4 | 12 | 11.1 |
| Coughing up blood | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25.0 | |
| All symptoms combined | 7995 | 254 | 3.2 | 1384 | 17.3 | |
* Level of symptom seriousness perceived by a sample of GPs, where level 1 is least serious and includes symptoms usually indicative of trivial/self-limiting illness and level 5 is most serious and includes symptoms that could be indicative of a serious condition or illness
† Consulted GP for symptoms self-rated as low severity (1-3 on a standard 5-point severity scale) and causing no or little interference on daily life (1-3 on a standard 5-point interference scale)
†† Did not consult GP for symptoms self-rated as high severity (4 or 5 on a standard 5 point severity scale) and/or causing considerable interference on daily life (4 or 5 on a standard 5-point interference scale)