Population and epidemiology at baseline
sore throat, Laryngitis
EAR INFECTIONS, RTI, SORE THROAT, LARYNGITIS
The 59 out-of-hours cooperatives served 3.12 million inhabitants (59% of the Norwegian population) in 198 (of 356) municipalities. There were 4.72 million contacts in primary health care in these municipalities in the baseline period, of which 4.37 million were list-holding GPs’ consultations and 0.35 million were GP consultations in the out-of-hours service.Women constituted 52.5 and 57.8% of the patients who received service in out-of-hours cooperatives and GP offices, respectively. Patients were relatively younger in the out-of-hours cooperatives than in the GP offices (Fig. Proportion of age groups in GP offices and out-of-hours GP cooperatives, all diagnoses. For RTIs, 34.4 and 16.5% of children under 5 years of age received a diagnosis in out-of-hours cooperatives and GP offices, respectively (Fig. Proportion of age groups in GP offices and out-of-hours GP cooperatives, RTIs. Respiratory symptoms and acute upper RTI were the two most frequently diagnosed RTIs (Fig. Proportion of different RTIs in GP offices and out-of-hours GP cooperatives. All the differences between GP offices and out-of-hours GP cooperatives, except for ear infections, were statistically significant (The proportion of RTIs diagnosed was higher in out-of-hours cooperatives than in the GP offices (22.9% versus 14.0%). Laryngitis, other conditions (viral RTIs frequently diagnosed in children) and sore throat were the most common diagnoses in the out-of-hours GP cooperatives (Fig. Proportion of conditions diagnosed in out-of-hours GP cooperatives