Table 2

Duration and Severity of RTI Symptoms, Restricted to First RTI in a Family With Known Illness Start Date (n = 197)

GroupNo.RTI Duration by Percentile, d P Valuea
10th25th50th75th90th
All children1974791423
Children with and without consultationb
 Consultation1669131837.06
 No consultation1814691321
Upper and lower RTI symptomsc,d
 Exclusively URTI863581115<.001
 Any LRTI10468121829.5
Constitutional symptom severity scoree for upper and lower RTI, mean of maximum
Upper RTILower RTI
Fever0.551.07
Fatigue0.831.71
Disruption to sleep1.152.19
Disruption to other activities0.671.43
  • LRTI = lower respiratory tract infection; NHS = National Health Service; RTI = respiratory tract infection; URTI = upper respiratory tract infection.

  • a Log-rank test for difference between episodes with consultions and those without consultions.

  • b Any NHS primary care attendance according to medical notes.

  • c 7 RTI episodes which did not report any URTI- or LRTI-defining symptoms.

  • d URTI symptoms: earache, sore throat, runny/blocked nose, ear discharge, dry cough or barking/croupy cough. LRTI symptoms: wet/productive cough, breathing faster/shortness of breath, or wheeze/whistling chest.

  • e Maximum of daily scores in first 21 days, based on Likert scale 0 (normal, no problem) to 6 (as bad as it could be).