Table 1.
Baseline characteristic of groups
| Randomised groups | Non-randomised group | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No prescription (n=123) | Recontact (n=108) | Post-date (n=114) | Collection (n=105) | Patient led (n=106) | Immediate antibiotics (n=333) | ||
| Previous duration (days)* | 7.5 (7.8) | 6.3 (5.4) | 6.5 (5.2) | 7.1 (7.9) | 7.2 (6.3) | 8.5 (7.7) | |
| Mean severity of all symptoms at baseline* | 0.94 (0.44) | 0.92 (0.42) | 0.98 (0.44) | 0.99 (0.42) | 0.94 (0.42) | 1.15 (0.45) | |
| Diagnosis | |||||||
| Lower respiratory infection | 8/122 (7) | 8/106 (8) | 5/110 (5) | 6/104 (6) | 8/105 (8) | 100/331 (30) | |
| Pharyngitis or sore throat | 28/123 (23) | 26/108 (24) | 32/108 (28) | 32/114 (28) | 22/106 (21) | 95/333 (29) | |
| Upper respiratory infection | 68/123 (55) | 51/108 (47) | 55/114 (48) | 60/105 (57) | 58/106 (55) | 37/333 (11) | |
| Sex (female) | 76/122 (62) | 59/107 (55) | 65/110 (59) | 63/104 (61) | 65/105 (62) | 212/332 (64) | |
| Current smoker | 19/122 (16) | 15/108 (14) | 14/110 (13) | 22/104 (21) | 17/105 (16) | 73/331 (22) | |
| Age (years)* | 29 (22) | 31 (20) | 34 (22) | 30 (20) | 32 (21) | 37 (21) | |
Data are mean (standard deviation) unless stated otherwise.
*Number (%) of patients. Denominators vary owing to missing data at baseline.