| Methods |
RCT |
| Participants |
426, subgroup of 807 patients with acute uncomplicated lower respiratory tract infection. Inclusion criteria: aged 3 years or older with uncomplicated LRTI for fewer than 21 days with cough as main symptom and at least 1 of sputum, chest pain, dyspnoea, and wheeze |
| Interventions |
6‐arm RCT: (1) no leaflet or antibiotics; (2) immediate antibiotics plus leaflet; (3) immediate antibiotics and no leaflet; (4) leaflet only; (5) leaflet and delayed antibiotics; (6) no leaflet and delayed antibiotics. Only data from the no‐treatment and immediate‐antibiotic groups included in the analysis. The antibiotic used was amoxicillin 250 mg 3 times a day for 10 days (125 mg if younger than 10 years) or erythromycin 250 mg 4 times a day if penicillin allergic. |
| Outcomes |
Daily diary for 3 weeks recording antipyretic use and 6 symptoms (cough, dyspnoea, sputum production, well‐being, sleep disturbance, and activity disturbance); satisfaction questionnaire; belief in antibiotics scale; reported antibiotic use; note review for reconsultation |
| Notes |
25% of participants lost to follow‐up in no‐treatment and immediate‐antibiotic arms |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
|
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Low risk |
|
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes |
High risk |
Open design |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) |
High risk |
|
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
|
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not reported |
| Other bias |
Low risk |
|
