Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Return visit or re-admission to hospital
Systematic review	120 children aged 6 months to 14 years with stridor and chest wall retractions at rest and croup score 3 or greater (see table 1 ) Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of children requiring return visit or re-admission to hospital by 7–10 days 2/31 (6%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.6 mg/kg 1/29 (3%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.3 mg/kg	RR 1.87 95% CI 0.18 to 19.55		Not significant
Systematic review	120 children aged 6 months to 14 years with stridor and chest wall retractions at rest and croup score 3 or greater Data from 1 RCT	Proportion of children requiring return visit or re-admission to hospital by 7–10 days 1/31 (3%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.3 mg/kg 0/29 (0%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.15 mg/kg	RR 2.81 95% CI 0.12 to 66.40		Not significant
RCT 3-armed trial	99 children aged 6 months to 6 years with Westley Croup Score greater than 2 (see table 1 )	Proportion of children re-presenting for additional medical attention for croup 1 week 4/30 (13%) with oral dexamethasone 0.15 mg/kg 3/27 (11%) with oral dexamethasone 0.6 mg/kg 5/29 (17%) with oral prednisolone 1 mg/kg	P = 0.86 for difference among the three groups Significance of each dexamethasone group alone versus prednisolone alone not reported		Not significant
Hospital admission rates
RCT 3-armed trial	99 children aged 6 months to 6 years with Westley Croup Score greater than 2 (see table 1 )	Proportion of children admitted to hospital during the initial emergency department attendance 2/33 (6%) with oral dexamethasone 0.15 mg/kg 1/30 (3%) with oral dexamethasone 0.6 mg/kg 4/34 (12%) with oral prednisolone 1 mg/kg	P = 0.498 for difference among the three groups Significance of each dexamethasone group alone versus prednisolone alone not reported		Not significant
RCT	72 children aged 6 months to 13 years with Westley Croup Score of 3–6	Proportion of children admitted to hospital after the initial clinic visit 14/36 (39%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.15 mg/kg 15/36 (42%) with single oral dexamethasone dose of 0.6 mg/kg	P = 0.36		Not significant