Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients : A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices - The COCO Study
(2016) In Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2016.- Abstract
Background. Patients use self-care to relieve symptoms of common colds, yet little is known about the prevalence and patterns across Europe. Methods/Design. In a cross-sectional study 27 primary care practices from 14 countries distributed 120 questionnaires to consecutive patients (≥18 years, any reason for consultation). A 27-item questionnaire asked for patients' self-care for their last common cold. Results. 3,074 patients from 27 European sites participated. Their mean age was 46.7 years, and 62.5% were females. 99% of the participants used ≥1 self-care practice. In total, 527 different practices were reported; the age-standardized mean was 11.5 (±SD 6.0) per participant. The most frequent self-care categories were foodstuffs... (More)
Background. Patients use self-care to relieve symptoms of common colds, yet little is known about the prevalence and patterns across Europe. Methods/Design. In a cross-sectional study 27 primary care practices from 14 countries distributed 120 questionnaires to consecutive patients (≥18 years, any reason for consultation). A 27-item questionnaire asked for patients' self-care for their last common cold. Results. 3,074 patients from 27 European sites participated. Their mean age was 46.7 years, and 62.5% were females. 99% of the participants used ≥1 self-care practice. In total, 527 different practices were reported; the age-standardized mean was 11.5 (±SD 6.0) per participant. The most frequent self-care categories were foodstuffs (95%), extras at home (81%), preparations for intestinal absorption (81%), and intranasal applications (53%). Patterns were similar across all sites, while the number of practices varied between and within countries. The most frequent single practices were water (43%), honey (42%), paracetamol (38%), oranges/orange juice (38%), and staying in bed (38%). Participants used 9 times more nonpharmaceutical items than pharmaceutical items. The majority (69%) combined self-care with and without proof of evidence, while ≤1% used only evidence-based items. Discussion. This first cross-national study on self-care for common colds showed a similar pattern across sites but quantitative differences.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2016
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- volume
- 2016
- article number
- 6949202
- publisher
- Hindawi Limited
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:27738443
- wos:000385079200001
- scopus:84990888242
- ISSN
- 1741-427X
- DOI
- 10.1155/2016/6949202
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 8d59efe5-0045-4e8a-ae77-8351b5cbd554
- date added to LUP
- 2016-11-08 12:34:47
- date last changed
- 2024-01-19 12:43:36
@article{8d59efe5-0045-4e8a-ae77-8351b5cbd554, abstract = {{<p>Background. Patients use self-care to relieve symptoms of common colds, yet little is known about the prevalence and patterns across Europe. Methods/Design. In a cross-sectional study 27 primary care practices from 14 countries distributed 120 questionnaires to consecutive patients (≥18 years, any reason for consultation). A 27-item questionnaire asked for patients' self-care for their last common cold. Results. 3,074 patients from 27 European sites participated. Their mean age was 46.7 years, and 62.5% were females. 99% of the participants used ≥1 self-care practice. In total, 527 different practices were reported; the age-standardized mean was 11.5 (±SD 6.0) per participant. The most frequent self-care categories were foodstuffs (95%), extras at home (81%), preparations for intestinal absorption (81%), and intranasal applications (53%). Patterns were similar across all sites, while the number of practices varied between and within countries. The most frequent single practices were water (43%), honey (42%), paracetamol (38%), oranges/orange juice (38%), and staying in bed (38%). Participants used 9 times more nonpharmaceutical items than pharmaceutical items. The majority (69%) combined self-care with and without proof of evidence, while ≤1% used only evidence-based items. Discussion. This first cross-national study on self-care for common colds showed a similar pattern across sites but quantitative differences.</p>}}, author = {{Thielmann, Anika and Gerasimovska-Kitanovska, Biljana and Buczkowski, Krzysztof and Koskela, Tuomas H. and Mevsim, Vildan and Czachowski, Slawomir and Petrazzuoli, Ferdinando and Petek-Šter, Marija and Lingner, Heidrun and Hoffman, Robert D. and Tekiner, Selda and Chambe, Juliette and Edirne, Tamer and Hoffmann, Kathryn and Pirrotta, Enzo and Uludaǧ, Ayşegül and Yikilkan, Hülya and Kreitmayer Pestic, Sanda and Zielinski, Andrzej and Guede Fernández, Clara and Weltermann, Birgitta}}, issn = {{1741-427X}}, language = {{eng}}, publisher = {{Hindawi Limited}}, series = {{Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine}}, title = {{Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients : A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices - The COCO Study}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/6949202}}, doi = {{10.1155/2016/6949202}}, volume = {{2016}}, year = {{2016}}, }