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Respiratory Tract Infections in Children in the Community: Prospective Online Inception Cohort Study
Alastair D Hay1,2, Emma Anderson3,2, Sue Ingle2,4
1Centre for Academic Primary Care, Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom alastair.hay@bristol.ac.uk.
Insights
Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children can last up to three weeks. Parents may seek primary care for about 1 in 12 illnesses, with associated medication costs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Community Health
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are common in children.
- Understanding the duration, healthcare seeking behavior, and costs associated with pediatric RTIs is crucial for public health.
- Previous studies may not fully capture the real-world burden of RTIs in community settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the duration of symptoms for pediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs).
- To determine the proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations for childhood RTIs.
- To estimate the associated costs for managing RTIs in children within the community.
Main Methods:
- A community-based, prospective inception cohort study involving 10,310 children aged 3 months to 14 years.
- General practitioners invited parents to participate; consenting parents (4.7%) completed symptom diaries and allowed medical record review.
- Data collected from February to July 2016 on 346 new RTIs in 259 children.
Main Results:
- Ninety percent of children recovered from their first RTI within 23 days.
- Symptom duration varied: longer for children with primary care consultations (9 days) versus none (6 days), younger children (<3 years: 11 days), and lower RTI symptoms (12 days).
- 8.1% of children had primary care consultations, and 32% of parents incurred medication costs.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric respiratory tract infection symptoms can persist for up to three weeks.
- Parents seek primary care for approximately 8% of childhood RTIs.
- Healthcare policy should consider the frequency of primary care utilization and associated parental costs for pediatric RTIs.
Purpose:
Describe the duration of symptoms, proportion of parents seeking primary care consultations, and costs for respiratory tract infections (RTIs) of children in the community.
Methods:
Community-based, online, prospective inception cohort study. General practitioners from socioeconomically diverse practices posted study invitations to parents of 10,310 children aged ≥3 months and <15 years.
Results:
One parent of 485 (4.7%) children in 331 families consented, completed baseline data and symptom diaries, and agreed to medical record review. Compared with nonresponders, responding parent's children were younger (aged 4 vs 6 years) and less socioeconomically deprived. Between February and July 2016, 206 parents reported 346 new RTIs in 259 children. Among the 197 first RTIs reported per family, it took 23 days for 90% (95% CI, 85%-94%) of children to recover. Median symptom duration was longer: in children with primary care consultations (9 days) vs those without consultations (6 days, P = 0.06); children aged <3 years (11 days) vs >3 years (7 days, P <.01); and among children with reported lower RTI symptoms (12 days) vs those with only upper RTI symptoms (8 days, P <.001). Sixteen (8.1%; 95% CI, 4.7%-12.8%) of 197 children had primary care consultations at least once (total 19 consultations), and a similar proportion had time off school or nursery. Sixty of 188 (32%; 95% CI, 25%-39%) parents reported paying for medications for their child's illness.
Conclusions:
Parents can be advised that RTI symptoms last up to 3 weeks. Policy makers should be aware that parents may seek primary care support in at least 1 in 12 illnesses.
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