Though more than 80% of acute pharyngitis (AP) cases have a viral etiology, it remains one of the most common causes for the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics (ABs). Half of patients receive antibiotics in general practice. Point-of-Care Tests (POCTs) distinguish between bacterial and viral pharyngitis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of POCTs using throat swabs to detect β-Streptococcus pyogenes Group A (strep A) infection among patients with sore throat/acute pharyngitis in primary care practices across Germany. A study was conducted in 1257 primary care practices. Two questionnaires were administered concerning frequency, POCT results and whether antibiotics were prescribed. Of the 1257 physicians, 60% used POCTs. Of these, 25% used a POCT before prescribing an antibiotic, 39% in cases of severe sore throat, 40% in cases of long-lasting pharyngitis and 25% in other cases. In total, 83% considered the adoption of POCTs in everyday practice to be important or very important for the diagnosis of strep A, 90% considered it important or very important for achieving a more sensible use of antibiotics and the prevention of bacterial resistance and 80% considered it important or very important for justifying to patients whether or not an antibiotic is needed. POCT results and information on AB prescriptions were available for 583 patients. Of these, 22.5% tested positive for strep A, and 21.8% were prescribed antibiotics. Our study shows that the use of swab tests in patients with sore throat in primary care practices results in high levels of physician satisfaction and can strongly reduce the misuse of antibiotics in clinical practice.

Background: Palatability and ease of administration are recognised as key determinants of medication adherence in paediatric populations. Oral ibuprofen suspensions are among the most commonly used analgesic and antipyretic medications for children in Germany, yet parental and parent-perceived child perspectives on these formulation attributes remain underreported for the German market. Methods: A cross-sectional, online market-research survey, commissioned to substantiate potential product communication claims, was conducted among 1005 parents residing in Germany, each of whom had administered a strawberry-flavoured ibuprofen suspension (Nurofen Junior Fever and Pain Suspension Strawberry, Reckitt Benckiser) to at least one child aged 3 months to 12 years within the preceding 12 months. Closed-ended items assessed overall satisfaction, willingness to recommend, parent-perceived child acceptance, perceived ease of administration, and taste satisfaction; all product-specific statements (Q17 and Q18) used a binary agree/do-not-agree format without a neutral option. Results: Overall satisfaction with the product was reported by 99% of respondents (995/1005), and 98% (985/1005) stated they would recommend it to other parents. Agreement rates exceeded 90% for all primary claim statements (Q18): easy and safe to administer (96%), satisfied with how well the child takes the medicine (92%), well accepted by child (92%), satisfied with flavour (92%), good feeling child takes medicine without problems (91%), child finds taste pleasant (90%), child likes the taste (90%), and child takes it without problems (88%). For comparative acceptance statements (Q17), agreement ranged from 83% to 93%. Fever was the primary indication for use (91%), and the product was used a mean of 3.3 times per year. Conclusions: These findings provide consumer-reported, real-world survey data indicating that, among surveyed parents with recent personal experience of using the product, reported satisfaction and perceived child acceptance were high. Because participation required experience with the product within the previous 12 months, while allowing concomitant experience with other paediatric products, and because fever and pain episodes commonly occur more than once over a year in children, the study relied on parent-reported outcomes. The study was designed as a descriptive survey of user experiences and was not intended as a comparative evaluation; accordingly, no comparator was included. The findings should therefore be interpreted as descriptive of this study population and cannot be used to infer comparative performance, improved adherence, or better clinical outcomes; they may, however, help identify taste and ease of administration as candidate domains of paediatric acceptability to be examined in future, more rigorously designed studies.