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Evidence summaries

Inhaled Corticosteroids for Subacute Cough in Children

Inhaled corticosteroids may not be beneficial for subacute cough in children. Level of evidence: "C"

The quality of evidence is downgraded by study limitations (unclear allocation concealment and blinding), and by imprecise results (few patients).

Summary

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 2 studies with a total of 98 children to evaluate the efficacy of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in reducing the severity of cough in children with subacute cough (defined as cough duration of 2 to 4 weeks). All participants were infants with post acute bronchiolitis illness. There was no significant difference between groups in the proportion of children 'not cured' at follow-up (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.55).

Clinical comments

Note

Date of latest search:

    References

    • Anderson-James S, Marchant JM, Acworth JP et al. Inhaled corticosteroids for subacute cough in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013;(2):CD008888. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords