A topic in Clinical Evidence 1 summarizes the results of three RCTs. In the first RCT (n=150), pseudoephedrine decreased the proportion of adult people with ear pain, blockage, hearing loss, dizziness or tinnitus (34% of people with pseudoephedrine vs 71% of people with placebo, RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.67). In the second RCT (n=190) pseudoephedrine reduced ear pain in adults compared with placebo (26% vs 46%) and hearing loss (21% vs 40%). In the third trial including 50 children up to the age of 6 years pseudoephedrine was not significantly superior to placebo. Clinical Evidence category: Likely to be beneficial.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by limitations in study quality (outcomes assessed by post-flight questionnaire, which may lead to recall bias).
Primary/Secondary Keywords