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An article in Pediatrics based on a study says night-time cough and sleep quality were no better with cough mixtures than with a simple, non-medicated syrup.
The findings of the study, conducted by a team from Penn State Children's Hospital, question the use of such medicines, while conceding that they probably did no harm.
Previous research has questioned the effectiveness of common cough medicines that can be bought over-the-counter at pharmacies.
Dr Ian M. Paul and his colleagues tested two of the main ingredients found in cough medicines against a placebo syrup with no medication.
According to their findings, 'Parents of 100 children with upper respiratory infections were questioned to assess the frequency, severity, and bothersome nature of the nocturnal cough. Their answers were recorded on 2 consecutive days, initially on the day of presentation, when no medication had been given the previous evening, and then again on the subsequent day, when either medication or placebo was given before bedtime.
Sleep quality for both the child and the parent were also assessed for both nights, Pediatrics reported.
'For the entire cohort, all outcomes were significantly improved on the second night of the study when either medication or placebo was given. However, neither diphenhydramine nor dextromethorphan produced a superior benefit when compared with placebo for any of the outcomes studied. 'Insomnia was reported more frequently in those who were given dextromethorphan, and drowsiness was reported more commonly in those who were given diphenhydramine,' the article said.
It therefore concludes that 'Diphenhydramine and dextromethorphan are not superior to placebo in providing nocturnal symptom relief for children with coughand sleep difficulty as a result of an upper respiratory infection.
Furthermore, the medications given to children do not result in improved quality of sleep for their parents when compared with placebo. Each clinician should consider these findings, the potential for adverse effects, and the individual and cumulative costs of the drugs before recommending them to families.'
In fact, it said the children who received the placebo syrup reported less frequent cough afterwards than those who took the medications.
Dr Paul said the improvements in symptoms regardless of the treatment should reassure doctors and parents that children with these types of night-time cough get better with time.
"This study, however, questions whether over-the-counter medications have a place in the treatment of these illnesses for children," the BBC quoted him as saying.
Neither medications improved the parent's sleep, he noted. "Parents often look particularly hard for ways to calm their child's cough at night because parents, too, need sleep to get through their daytime activities.
"Our study specifically evaluated this variable and showed that, not only did children's sleep not improve, but parents' sleep didn't improve when their child received active medication versus placebo," he said.
"For children with their usual tickly coughs that they get all the time there really isn't much evidence that they do any more good than any sort of warm drink," the BBC quoted Dr Harvey Marcovitch, a spokesman for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, as saying.
External Link: The Pediatrics article