Table 3.
Cure rates stratified according to infestation intensity (assessed by 3 minutes of visual inspection before treatment)
| Dimeticone group | Permethrin group | P value | Effect size | |||
| Cured/total | % (95% CI) | Cured/total | % (95% CI) | RR (95% CI) | ||
| Low or moderate infestationa | ||||||
| Day 2 | 37/38 | 97.4% (86.2% – 99.9%) | 23/31 | 74.2% (55.4% – 88,1%) | P = 0.004 | 1.31 (1.06–1.63) |
| Day 7 | 32/38 | 84.2% (68.7% – 94.0%) | 23/31 | 74.2% (55.4% – 88,1%) | P = 0.3 | 1.14 (0.88–1.46) |
| Day 9 | 36/37 | 97.3% (85.5% – 99.9%) | 25/31 | 80.6% (62.5% – 92.5%) | P = 0.02 | 1.21 (1.01–1.45) |
| Heavy infestationb | ||||||
| Day 2 | 32/35 | 91.4% (76.9% – 98.2%) | 25/41 | 61.0% (44.5% – 75.8%) | P = 0.002 | 1.50 (1.15–1.95) |
| Day 7 | 15/35 | 42.9% (26.3% – 60.4%) | 20/41 | 48.8% (32.9% – 64.9%) | P = 0.6 | 0.88 (0.54–1.44) |
| Day 9 | 34/35 | 97.1% (85.1% – 99.9%) | 23/40 | 57,5% (40.9% – 73.0%) | P < 0.0001 | 1.69 (1.29–2.22) |
a < 5 active head lice at the beginning of the study; see material and methods
b ≥ 5 active head lice