Treatment of the Common Cold
PAKPOOM SUPIYAPHUN,MD*, VIRACHAI KEREKHANJANANARONG, MD*, SUPINDA SAENGPANICH, MD*, AMNUA Y CUTCHA V AREE, MD*
Affiliation : * Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkom University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
Method :In this prospective, investigator-blinded clinical trial, 120 patients, aged between 15 and 60 years old, with common colds within 72 hours, who accepted the trial and gave informed written consent, were randomized into two treatment groups. One patient was excluded due to evidence of bac terial infection. Fifty-nine patients were treated with Dayquil®INyquil® (DIN group), while the other 60 patients had Actifed DM® plus paracetamol (ADM/P group) for three days. On day 1 the patient's demographic data (sex, age, body weight, blood pressure, co-existing diseases/conditions, drug use, and allergy to any drugs), the most prominent symptoms and its duration were recorded. All patients were screened for bacterial infection by physical examination, complete blood count and sinus radiographs. The symptoms (nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, sneezing, cough, sore throat, fever and headache) and signs (injected nasal mucosa, nasal discharge and pharyngeal discharge) were scored, based on 4-point scale (0 to 3), on days 1 and 4. Changing of the symptoms and QOL were recorded on the diary card. The patient's opinion and appreciation on the drugs (POD) was assessed on day 4. The effectiveness (the ability to lessen the symptoms and signs), QOL and POD between two treatments were compared.
Results : The demographic data between the two groups were similar. The four most com mon prominent symptoms of common colds in our series were cough ( 4 7.9% ), sore throat (26.17% ), rhinorrhea (8.4%) and headache (8.4%). However, both treatments were equally effective in lessening the symptoms (P = 0.426) and signs (P = 0.716) of common cold from days 1 to 4. The adverse effects were significantly higher in ADH/P group than in DIN group (p = 0.006). In contrast, QOL in terms of alertness, freshness and sound sleep improved from day 1 to day 3 in both treatments, but the over all day-3 score was significantly higher in the DIN group than the ADM/P group (1.85 ± 1.83; 1.25 ± = 1.94: p 0.024). POD in terms of convenience, flavour of drug, effectiveness of the drug and a need to repeat the drug assessed on day 4, was also significantly higher in the DIN group than the ADM/P group (10.68 ± 2.56; 8.92 ± 2.27 : p < 0.001)
Conclusion : DayquiJ®fNyquil® are as effective as Actifed DM® plus paracetamol in con trolling the symptoms and signs of the common cold, but have fewer adverse effects. The quality of life assessed during the use of the drugs was significantly higher in the Dayquil/Nyquil group, and according to the patients, they prefered Dayquii/Nyquil more than Actifed DM plus paracetamol.
Keywords : Common Cold, Rhinitis, Medical Treatment, Viral Infection
