Usefulness of Centor Score to Diagnosis of Group a Streptococcal Pharyngitis and Decision Making of Antibiotics Use

Abstract

Background and Objectives This study aims to verify the usefulness of Centor scores to diagnose the Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis. Subjects and Method The subjects of this study were 379 patients who had been examined by the rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for Group A Streptococcus. We analyzed their medical records and laboratory test results retrospectively and compared the results of Centor symptom scores with those of RADT. Then we analyzed the association of RADT, the Centor score and the laboratory test results statistically. Results There were no correlation between the RADT results and fever, cough, tonsillar enlargement, nasal symptoms, myalgia or chilling (p＞0.05). In the RADT positive group, there were more patients with tonsillar exudate, neck lymph node enlargement, tenderness and pharyngeal abscess formation significantly (p＜0.05). The Centor score and C-reactive protein were significantly higher in the RADT positive group (p＜0.05). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that Centor symptom scores can be used to determine which antibiotics to use. The Centor score system can help reduce medical costs and detect the problematic Group A Streptococcal pharyngitis. Key words: Centor score ㆍ Pharyngitis ㆍ Rapid antigen detection test ㆍ Streptococcus pyogenes