Honey and lozenges for children with non-specific cough

 

Abstract

Background

Chronic non-specific cough is a chronic, dry cough of in the absence of identifiable respiratory disease or known aetiology.  Although it is usually not reflective of an underlying severe illness, it does cause significant morbidity, and as such relief from it is often sought. The use of honey and lozenges to soothe upper respiratory tract irritation is common, inexpensive, and potentially more effective in treating the symptoms than pharmacological interventions.

Objectives

To evaluate the efficacy of honey and/or lozenges in the management of children with chronic non-specific cough.

Search methods

The Cochrane Airways Group searched the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, OLDMEDLINE, and EMBASE databases in October 2010.           

Selection criteria

All randomised controlled trials comparing honey or lozenges with a placebo in treating children with chronic non-specific cough.

Data collection and analysis

The results of the searches were assessed according to the pre-determined criteria.  None of the trials identified by the searches were eligible for inclusion, leaving no data available for analysis in this review.

Main results

The search did not provide any applicable randomised controlled trials that investigated the efficacy of honey and lozenges in treating children with non-specific chronic cough.  Data from acute studies suggest a potential role for honey in relieving cough, but whether this is applicable to chronic cough is unknown.

Authors' conclusions

Clinically, this review was unable to provide any justifiable recommendation for or against honey and/or lozenges due to the lack of evidence. The absence of applicable studies highlights the need for further research into the area of treating children with chronic non-specific coughs with honey and/or lozenges. These treatments are not recommended when managing very young children (as lozenges are a potential choking hazard, and honey may cause infant botulism in children under one year of age).

 

Plain language summary

Honey and lozenges for children with non-specific cough

Symptomatic relief is often sought for children with chronic non-specific cough (which is defined as a dry, non-productive cough with no known cause lasting longer than four consecutive weeks).  This review aimed to assess the efficacy of treating children with such coughs using honey or lozenges, as these options are inexpensive.  No randomised controlled trials were found to be applicable to this review, primarily due to the participants in the studies not fulfilling the inclusion criteria.  However, studies on the efficacy of these treatments in treating acute cough in children showed that honey has the potential to be beneficial in children over a year old.  Further research evaluating the efficacy of honey and lozenges in treating chronic non-specific coughs in children is needed.

 

摘要

背景

利用蜂蜜和錠劑治療幼童的非特異性咳嗽

慢性非特異性咳嗽是一種缺乏辨識性的呼吸道疾病，或是已知病因下出現的慢性乾咳行為。雖然這種症狀通常不代表具有潛在的嚴重疾病，但是卻具有顯著的發病率，並且人們常尋求緩解的方法。使用蜂蜜和錠劑來鎮定上呼吸道的發炎症狀是十分常見，並且可能比藥物性介入治療更為便宜有效。

目標

評估蜂蜜和/或錠劑對於幼童慢性非特異性咳嗽的影響。

搜尋策略

在2008年10月，Cochrane Airways Group針對Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials(CENTRAL)、MEDLINE、OLDMEDLINE和EMBASE等資料庫進行檢索。

選擇標準

納入所有將蜂蜜或錠劑與安慰劑對於幼童慢性非特異性咳嗽影響進行比較的隨機對照試驗(randomised controlled trials)

資料收集與分析

檢索的結果會利用預先訂定的條件再加以確認，檢索中沒有適合被納入研究的試驗，因此沒有得到可用的數據加以分析。

主要結論

檢索的結果並沒有發現任何可以應用、並且是針對蜂蜜和錠劑對幼童非特異性慢性氣喘治療效果進行比較的隨機對照試驗。由急性研究取得的數據可以推測蜂蜜可能可以舒緩咳嗽症狀，不過是否對於慢性咳嗽也具有應用性則不得而知。

作者結論

就臨床的角度來說，在缺乏證據的情況下，本研究無法提供任何適切的建議支持或反對使用蜂蜜和/或錠劑來緩解慢性咳嗽，也突顯出需要對此一領域進行更多試驗的需求，以瞭解使用蜂蜜和/或錠劑對幼童的慢性非特異性咳嗽的影響，這樣的治療方式也不建議使用於年紀太小的幼童身上(因為錠劑是一種可能會造成幼童呼吸道阻塞的危險物品，而蜂蜜可能會造成1歲以下的幼兒出現嬰兒型肉毒桿菌中毒(Infant botulism)症狀)。

翻譯人

此翻譯計畫由臺灣國家衛生研究院(National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan)統籌。

總結

人們尋求各種幼童慢性非特異性咳嗽(通常定義為在未知因素下出現無痰性乾咳4星期以上的咳嗽症狀)症狀的舒緩方式。本篇文獻回顧評估利用蜂蜜或是錠劑來治療幼童的非特異性咳嗽的影響，因為使用這類物質治療咳嗽是較經濟的選擇。因為試驗中的受試者並不符合本研究的納入規定。本文獻回顧並未取得可用的隨機對照試驗。但是，若是將這類療法應用於急性咳嗽的治療上進行研究，則會發現使用蜂蜜對於1歲以上的幼童具有潛在效益，此外，也需要進行更進一步的研究來評估使用蜂蜜或錠劑治療幼童慢性非特異性咳嗽的實質效益。