Office Versus Phone Management of Acute Sinusitis: Preliminary Results From an Observational Study

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-1999

Description

Purpose: To determine whether symptom resolution and patient satisfaction differ for patients with acute sinusitis treated in the medical office compared to those treated by phone. Methods: A case definition for acute sinusitis, which could be determined by phone interviews, was developed based on published literature. Computerized phone logs and billing records from an academic internal medicine practice were reviewed to screen for patients with possible acute sinusitis. Medical record reviews and phone interviews were conducted to determine whether patients met the case definition, their treatment, their symptoms (scored as 0-10), days to symptom resolution, and satisfaction with treatment (scored as 1-10). Categorical data were analyzed using Chi square and continuous data were analyzed using Student's t. Results: 35 patients met the definition and were treated by phone, 18 were treated in the office. There were no significant differences in the two groups regarding gender, age, or number of chronic medications taken. Elevated temperatures occurred more often in the office treatment group (p=.002). No significant differences were noted in the symptom scores at day 0 (6.9 phone vs 7.5 office) and day 10 (1.1 vs 1.9). At day 3 patients treated by phone had a significantly lower symptom score (3.6 vs 5.1, p=.04). Number of days to resolution of symptoms (9.0 vs 11.6) and patient satisfaction (9.1 vs 8.2) tended to favor treatment by phone but were not significant. Conclusions: In this small observational study, patients treated for acute sinusitis by phone did as well as those evaluated and treated in the medical office. Phone management for patients meeting the case definition used in this study is a reasonable alternative to office treatment.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS