4S Throat Feasibility Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
4S Throat Feasibility Study – Scores and Swabs to Self-assess Sore Throat
IRAS ID
288006
Contact name
Alison Knight
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Head of Research Integrity and Governance University of Southampton
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN17520749
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Background
Most sore throats are caused by viruses. Taking antibiotics does not help with viruses and can result in side effects and antibiotic resistance. General practitioners use symptom scores to decide if a sore throat is caused by bacteria. Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, people with problems like sore throat are often assessed through telephone or video consultations. However, we do not know how well people are able to assess their own, or their child’s sore throat. We don’t know if it is possible for patients/parents to take swabs of their throats accurately to help establish when antibiotics should be used.What we want to do
Find out if it’s possible to run a study to see how well patients can assess features of sore throat and take throat swab/sample tests during a telephone or video consultation.How we will find out
We will firstly work with patients to develop information to help patients perform home throat swab/sampling tests and know what to look for when they have a sore throat. We will then conduct a small study with 40-60 adults and children with sore throat. We will collect information about their illness and ask them to collect one or two throat swabs. We will observe patients to see how well they are able to do these procedures and look at laboratory tests of the swabs to check that they picked up what is needed for an accurate test.What we will do with the results
The results will help us understand whether it is possible for patients to use swab tests or symptom scores at home to help treat sore throats better. This is a small study to find out if a larger study is possible with the ultimate aim to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use.REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SW/0175
Date of REC Opinion
16 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion