Predictive Factors for Medical Consultation for Sore Throat in Adults with Recurrent Pharyngotonsillitis

Table 1

Demographic and baseline characteristics of adult patients with recurrent pharyngotonsillitis and features of pharyngotonsillitis episodes during follow-up (mean of 5.9 (SD 1.2) months). Figures are numbers (percentages) unless otherwise indicated.

Characteristic/feature
Patient-related ( patients)
Mean (range) age (years)	26 (14–65)
Female	104 (67)
Tobacco use	60 (39)
History of allergy	50 (32)
Risk factors for pharyngotonsillitis:
More than four people in family	35 (23)
Use of same toothbrush > 3 months	36 (23)
Mean (SD) number of previous episodes of acute
pharyngotonsillitis diagnosed by physician:
During past 6 months	3.3 (1.4)
During past 12 months	5.0 (2.0)
Group A Streptococcus pharyngotonsillitis diagnosed by physician in the past	130 (83)
Frequent throat pain	54 (35)
Tonsils at baseline according to clinical assessment^†:
Large	48 (31)
Chronically infected	18 (12)
Scarred	104 (67)
Episode-related ( acute pharyngitis episodes)
Preoperative	161 (77)
Postoperative	47 (23)
Involved besides throat pain
Other respiratory symptoms	115 (55)
Fever	61 (29)
Severity of throat pain at most during episode
Mild	54 (40)^‡
Moderate	60 (44)^‡
Severe	21 (16)^‡

SD: standard deviation. ^†More than one clinical feature possible. ^‡Data available for 135 episodes.