Dataset Information

Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients: A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices-The COCO Study.

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 (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.

SUBMITTER: Thielmann A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5050368 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients: A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices-The COCO Study.

Thielmann Anika A Gerasimovska-Kitanovska Biljana B Buczkowski Krzysztof K Koskela Tuomas H TH Mevsim Vildan V Czachowski Slawomir S Petrazzuoli Ferdinando F Petek-Šter Marija M Lingner Heidrun H Hoffman Robert D RD Tekiner Selda S Chambe Juliette J Edirne Tamer T Hoffmann Kathryn K Pirrotta Enzo E Uludağ Ayşegül A Yikilkan Hülya H Kreitmayer Pestic Sanda S Zielinski Andrzej A Guede Fernández Clara C Weltermann Birgitta B

Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM 20160921

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 ...[more]

PMID: 27738443

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Project description:BackgroundRandomized trials have shown that vitamin C shortens the duration of common colds. Some trials reported greater effects on severe cold symptoms compared with mild symptoms. This review systematically compares the effects of vitamin C on severe and mild common cold symptoms.MethodsWe included all placebo-controlled trials of orally administered vitamin C in doses of at least 1 g/day for the common cold for people in good health at baseline. The analysis was restricted to trials which reported both the total duration of the common cold, and the severity of the common cold measured using severity scales, the duration of more severe stages of the cold, or proxies for severe colds such as days indoors. Findings were pooled using the inverse variance, fixed effect options of the metacont function of the R package meta to calculate the ratio of means estimate.ResultsFifteen comparisons from 10 trials which reported both mild and severe symptoms were identified. All trials were randomized and double-blind. Compared to placebo, vitamin C significantly decreased the severity of the common cold by 15% (95% CI 9-21%). The direct comparison of the effect of vitamin C on mild and severe symptoms was limited to five comparisons which found that vitamin C had a significant benefit on the duration of severe symptoms. In this subset, there was a significant difference in the size of the effect of vitamin C on the overall duration of colds versus the duration of severe colds (P = 0.002), and vitamin C had no significant effect on the duration of mild symptoms.ConclusionsThe common cold is the leading cause of acute morbidity and a major cause of absenteeism from work and school. However, absenteeism is dependent on the severity of symptoms. The finding that vitamin C may have a greater effect on more severe measures of the common cold is therefore important. Further research on the therapeutic effects of vitamin C on the common cold should measure outcomes of differing levels of severity.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Addressing Citizen's perspectives on homelessness is crucial for the design of effective and durable policy responses, and available research in Europe is not yet substantive. We aim to explore citizens' opinions about homelessness and to explain the differences in attitudes within the general population of eight European countries: France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. METHODS:A nationally representative telephone survey of European citizens was conducted in 2017. Three domains were investigated: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about homelessness. Based on a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), a generalized linear model for clustered and weighted samples was used to probe the associations between groups with opposing attitudes. RESULTS:Response rates ranged from 30.4% to 33.5% (N = 5,295). Most respondents (57%) had poor knowledge about homelessness. Respondents who thought the government spent too much on homelessness, people who are homeless should be responsible for housing, people remain homeless by choice, or homelessness keeps capabilities/empowerment intact (regarding meals, family contact, and access to work) clustered together (negative attitudes, 30%). Respondents who were willing to pay taxes, welcomed a shelter, or acknowledged people who are homeless may lack some capabilities (i.e. agreed on discrimination in hiring) made another cluster (positive attitudes, 58%). Respondents living in semi-urban or urban areas (ORs 1.33 and 1.34) and those engaged in practices to support people who are homeless (ORs > 1.4; p<0.005) were more likely to report positive attitudes, whereas those from France and Poland (p<0.001) were less likely to report positive attitudes. CONCLUSION:The majority of European citizens hold positive attitudes towards people who are homeless, however there remain significant differences between and within countries. Although it is clear that there is strong support for increased government action and more effective solutions for Europe's growing homelessness crisis, there also remain public opinion barriers rooted in enduring negative perceptions.

Dataset Information

Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients: A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices-The COCO Study.

Publications

Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients: A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices-The COCO Study.

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