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

Table 2

Association between various patient- and episode-related factors and having a medical consultation during an episode of acute pharyngotonsillitis in a material based on two randomised trials in Finland [2, 3].

Characteristic		Hazard ratio	95% Confidence interval
Patient-related ( patients)
Age	≤20 or >30 years	1.0		0.40
	21–30 years	0.7	0.4–1.5
Sex	Male	1.0		<0.01
	Female	3.3	1.4–8.0
Tobacco use	No	1.0		0.17
	Yes	0.6	0.3–1.2
Prior streptococcal	No	1.0		0.51
pharyngotonsillitis	Yes	1.3	0.6–3.3
Frequent episodes of	No	1.0		0.59
pharyngotonsillitis	Yes	1.2	0.6–2.3
Chronically infected	No	1.0		0.01
tonsils^†	Yes	2.7	1.2–6.1
Episode-related ( acute pharyngotonsillitis episodes)
Postoperative episode		1.0		0.62
Preoperative episode		1.5	0.3–6.7
Maximum throat pain^‡	Mild	1.0
	Moderate	1.6	0.5–5.8	0.44
	Severe	4.3	1.0–18.6	0.05
Fever	No	1.0		0.62
	Yes	0.7	0.2–2.3
Other respiratory	No	1.0		0.83
symptoms	Yes	1.1	0.4–3.1

Cox regression model.
>3 episodes in 6 months.
Found at clinical examination at enrolment.
Calculated among those episodes, where data on severity of throat pain was available ().