Table 3.
Anticipated/Perceived Cause of Sore Throat
| Survey Item | Responses, % | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | AUS | BR | CH | FR | GE | IT | PH | RU | KSA | SA | TH | UK | USA | ||
| Importance of knowing the cause of sore throat (N=5196) | |||||||||||||||
| Fairly/very important | 82 | 71 | 91 | 91 | 65 | 73 | 87 | 97 | 78 | 91 | 79 | 95 | 66 | 81 | |
| Not very important | 15 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 24 | 12 | 3 | 20 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 28 | 16 | |
| Not at all important | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | |
| Knew the cause of their most recent sore throat (N=5196) | |||||||||||||||
| Know for sure | 22 | 21 | 24 | 29 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 21 | 22 | 42 | 17 | 23 | 18 | 24 | |
| Think/have a good idea | 50 | 44 | 52 | 41 | 50 | 52 | 67 | 59 | 60 | 39 | 57 | 54 | 34 | 46 | |
| Have no idea | 27 | 36 | 24 | 30 | 34 | 30 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 27 | 22 | 48 | 30 | |
| Perceived/known cause of their most recent sore throat (n=3775)a | |||||||||||||||
| Common cold/flu | 41 | 36 | 38 | 42 | 27 | 40 | 43 | 48 | 50 | 49 | 35 | 40 | 43 | 36 | |
| Cold/wet weather | 34 | 15 | 25 | 25 | 35 | 41 | 39 | 28 | 42 | 44 | 34 | 47 | 20 | 36 | |
| Fatigue | 21 | 15 | 15 | 26 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 42 | 22 | 10 | 20 | 44 | 19 | 20 | |
| Other bacterial/viral infection | 19 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 14 | 36 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 11 | 12 | |
| Dust | 19 | 14 | 33 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 43 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 32 | 7 | 20 | |
| Air conditioning | 17 | 13 | 31 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 7 | 30 | 23 | 27 | 10 | 13 | |
| Pollution | 17 | 9 | 27 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 10 | 18 | 18 | 32 | 9 | 15 | |
| Stress (home/work) | 15 | 10 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 36 | 16 | 10 | 18 | 17 | 10 | 15 | |
| Smoking (including passive) | 15 | 13 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 9 | 14 | 19 | 13 | 21 | |
| Hay fever | 9 | 12 | 33 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 10 | 15 | |
Note: aSubset of respondents who answered that they “knew for sure” or had a “good idea” about the cause of their most recent sore throat.
Abbreviations: AUS, Australia; BR, Brazil; CH, China; FR, France; GE, Germany; IT, Italy; PH, the Philippines; RU, Russia; KSA, Saudi Arabia; SA, South Africa; TH, Thailand; UK, the United Kingdom; USA, the United States of America.