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- Title
Determinants for the course of acute sinusitis in adult general practice patients.
- Authors
Stalman, W. A. B.; van Essen, G. A.; van der Graaf, Y.; Stalman, W A
- Abstract
<bold>Background: </bold>Although the prognosis of acute sinusitis is important, little is known about it and the factors predicting its course in a general practice population.<bold>Objective: </bold>To determine the course of acute sinusitis and factors predicting it in adults in general practice.<bold>Methods: </bold>The prognostic value of demographic and clinical factors and the patient's emotional state, for example anxious or depressed, were determined prospectively by means of multivariate analysis.<bold>Main Outcome Measurements: </bold>Resolution of facial pain, resumption of daily activities, and the patient's reported improvement. Factors with a significant predictive value were used to classify the patients into three different groups: quick, moderate, and slow recovery.<bold>Results: </bold>The median time from enrollment to recovery was six (range percentile 25-75: 4-10) days in a population of 177 patients. Factors predictive of a prolonged clinical course were: female sex (hazard ratio (HR) 0.60; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42 to 0.83), history longer than 14 days before inclusion (HR 0.62; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.94), headache, cold, or cough as a reason for the encounter (HR 0.65; 95% CI 0.44 to 0.96), and absence of cervical adenopathy (HR 0.71; 95% CI 0.51 to 0.96). Antibiotic treatment did not influence the course of disease. The median time to recovery was three days for patients with a quick, five days for those with a moderate, and seven days for those with a slow recovery.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>In general practice acute sinusitis is mostly a self limiting disease. A limited number of characteristics are predictive of a (slightly) prolonged clinical course of acute sinusitis in general practice.
- Subjects
SINUSITIS; SYMPTOMS; ANTIBIOTICS; PROGNOSIS; FAMILY medicine; MULTIVARIATE analysis
- Publication
Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2001, Vol 77, Issue 914, p778
- ISSN
0032-5473
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1136/pmj.77.914.778