Table 3.
Most frequently recorded symptoms in the 28 days before inflammatory marker testing
| Symptom | Untested (N= 37 539) | Normal inflammatory markers (N = 98 951) | Raised inflammatory markers (N = 38 010) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Tiredness | 82 | 0.22 | 6390 | 6.46 | 2148 | 5.65 |
| Dizziness | 126 | 0.34 | 2156 | 2.18 | 755 | 1.99 |
| Headache | 98 | 0.26 | 2498 | 2.52 | 965 | 2.54 |
| Low mood | 111 | 0.30 | 964 | 0.97 | 390 | 1.03 |
| Low back pain | 138 | 0.37 | 2079 | 2.10 | 857 | 2.25 |
| Back pain | 156 | 0.42 | 2202 | 2.23 | 964 | 2.54 |
| Abdominal pain | 166 | 0.44 | 7132 | 7.21 | 3232 | 8.50 |
| Chest pain | 100 | 0.27 | 1922 | 1.94 | 872 | 2.29 |
| Rash | 145 | 0.39 | 1663 | 1.68 | 797 | 2.10 |
| Joint pain | 52 | 0.14 | 2515 | 2.54 | 1215 | 3.20 |
| Pain, generalised | 87 | 0.23 | 1841 | 1.86 | 1011 | 2.66 |
| Diarrhoea | 64 | 0.17 | 2297 | 2.32 | 1266 | 3.33 |
| Shoulder pain | 123 | 0.33 | 1103 | 1.11 | 631 | 1.66 |
| Throat symptoms | 102 | 0.27 | 1018 | 1.03 | 598 | 1.57 |
| Knee pain | 182 | 0.48 | 1599 | 1.62 | 916 | 2.41 |
| Nausea and vomiting | 56 | 0.15 | 1171 | 1.18 | 720 | 1.89 |
| Cough | 496 | 1.32 | 3361 | 3.40 | 2336 | 6.15 |
| Malaise | 27 | 0.07 | 1005 | 1.02 | 720 | 1.89 |
| UTI | 189 | 0.50 | 1291 | 1.30 | 1057 | 2.78 |
| Chest infection | 130 | 0.35 | 720 | 0.73 | 804 | 2.12 |
Symptoms are ordered according to whether they were relatively more common in patients with normal inflammatory markers (top) or more common in those with raised inflammatory markers (bottom) UTI = urinary tract infection.