THERAPEUTICS
Oral prednisolone did not improve outcomes in preschool children with an attack of wheezing
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
STUDY DESIGN
randomised placebo-controlled trial. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN58363576 [controlled-trials.com] .
concealed.*
blinded (patients, parents, healthcare providers, and outcome assessors).*
STUDY QUESTION
3 hospitals in the UK.
700 children 10–60 months of age (mean age 26 mo, 64% boys) who presented to hospital with an attack of wheezing associated with a clinically diagnosed upper respiratory viral infection. Exclusion criteria included shock, bacterial sepsis, heart or lung disease, immunodeficiency or immunosuppressive therapy, and varicella infection or recent exposure.
oral prednisolone (10 mg/d if
24 mo of age or 20 mg/d if >24 mo) once daily for 5 days (n = 343) or placebo (n = 344).
All patients received inhaled salbutamol as required and other treatment at the discretion of the attending physician.
time to discharge, puffs of salbutamol in hospital, symptom severity at 4 hours, time to return to normal activities, and hospital readmission for wheezing within 1 month.
1 month.
98% (intention-to-treat analysis).
MAIN RESULTS
Prednisolone
Östersund Hospital and Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden, Lovisenberg Deaconal University College, Oslo, Norway
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