Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies.
| Reference | Country | Patients (I/C)* | Inclusion criteria | C/A** | Gender (m/f in %) | Age range (years) | Treatment | Treatment (days) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention group | daily dose | Control group | daily dose | ||||||||
| Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Kemmerich et al. 2006 | Germany | 182/178 | Acute bronchitis | A | 46.7/53.3 | 18–87 y | Ivy + Thyme, “Bronchipret” syrup Ivy: 1.5 g LE/100 g (1:1, E70%) Thyme: 15 g LE/100 g (1:2–2.5) |
16.2 ml | Placebo | n.a. | 10 |
| Unkauf and Friedrich 2000 | Germany | 25/27 | Acute bronchitis | C | 51.9/48.1 | <12 y | Ivy, “Valverde” syrup 0.33–0.5 g DE/100 ml (3–6:1, E60%) | 10–20 ml | Ivy, “Prospan” syrup 0.7 g DE/100 ml (5–7.5:1, E30%) | 10–20 ml | 10 |
|
| |||||||||||
| Controlled trials (CCTs) | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Bolbot et al. 2004 | Ukraine | 25/25 | Acute bronchitis | C | 64.0/36.0 | 2–10 y | Ivy, “Prospan” syrup (5–7.5:1) | 15–30 ml | Acetylcysteine | 300–1200 mg | 7–10 |
|
| |||||||||||
| Observational studies (OSs) | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Büechi and Kähler 2003 | Switzerland | 56 | Acute bronchitis, common cold | C/A | 32.1/67.9 | 7–93 y | Ivy, pastilles 26 mg DE/pastille (4–8:1, E30%) | 2–6 pastilles, 52–156 mg DE | 7 | ||
| Büechi et al. 2005 | Switzerland | 62 | Acute and chronic bronchitis, common cold | A | 40.3/59.7 | 16–89 y | Ivy + Thyme, syrup, Ivy: 1.0 g DE/100 g (4–8:1, E30%) Thyme: 25.4 g DE/100 g (1:3.5–4) |
5–15 ml (6.7–20.1g) | 3–23 | ||
| Fazio et al. 2009 | Latin America*** | 9657 | Acute and chronic bronchitis, cough | C/A | NR | 0–98 y | Ivy, syrup (5–7.5:1, E30%) | 7.5–22.5 ml | 7 | ||
| Hecker 1999 | Germany | 248 | Bronchitis | C/A | 44.4/55.6 | 0–70 y | Ivy, “Prospan” syrup in 48.4% of patients, “Prospan” effervescent tablets in 51.6% of patients | NR | n.a. | ~8 (mean) | |
| Leskow 1985 | Germany | 84 | Acute and chronic bronchitis, chesty cough, pertussis | C/A | 46.4/53.6 | 1–82 y | Ivy, “Prospan” drops 2 g DE/100 ml | 30–100 drops | 12.3 (mean) | ||
| Marzian 2007 | Germany | 1044 | Acute bronchitis | C | 50.5/49.5 | 0–17 y | Ivy + Thyme, “Bronchipret” syrup Ivy: 1.5 g LE/100 g (1:1, E70%) Thyme: 15 g LE/100 g (1:2–2.5) |
9.6–16.2 ml | 10 | ||
| Santoro Júnior 2005 | Brasil | 5850 | Bronchitis | C/A | 47.9/52.1 | NR | Ivy, “Abrilar” syrup | 7.5–22.5 ml | 7 | ||
n.a. = not applicable, NR = not reported, DE = dry extract, LE = liquid extract, E% = ethanol %, Values are reported as stated in the respective publications. If information is missing (e.g., composition of herbal preparation), the paper does not give any more details. Brand names are marked by quotation marks. *Number of participants included in analysis (I/C = number in Intervention/Control group) **C/A = Children/Adults, ***11 countries in Latin America.