Population and epidemiology at baseline
sore throat, sinusitis, streptococci
SORE THROAT, SINUSITIS, ACUTE LARYNGITIS, STREPTOCOCCAL TONSILLITIS
The out-of-hours patient population is characterized by a higher proportion of children and teenagers compared with list-holding GPs’ patient population, especially for RTIs. Danish parents reported a perceived need for prompt action, unpleasant symptoms and worry as some of the main reasons for contacting the out-of-hours service [The proportion of sore throat diagnosed in the out-of-hours cooperatives is high. In our data, sore throat is consistent with suspected or detected streptococcal tonsillitis. There is a strong Norwegian tradition of performing rapid strep A test and initiating treatment with penicillin V if streptococci are confirmed. This tradition may contribute to high expectations in the population of a doctors’ assessment for sore throat, leading to high out-of-hours consultation rates [Acute laryngitis is a hyperacute condition and tends to arise during night-time. Therefore, the high proportion of patients being diagnosed with this condition out-of-hours is unsurprising. However, the proportion of sinusitis cases was low. This finding is consistent with the low-urgency nature of sinusitis and the existing guidelines recommending a wait-and-watch attitude for this condition [