Table 3. Tolerability and acceptability.
|
Groupc |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garlic 1 | Garlic 2 | Garlic 4 | Placebo | ||
| Total number | n=21 | n=20 | n=19 | n=19 | |
| (A) Tolerability | |||||
| Side effects | N (%) | ||||
| Gastrointestinal discomfort | 2 (11) | 1 (5) | |||
| Constipationa | 1 (5) | ||||
| Bloating, flatulencea | 1 (5) | 1 (5) | |||
| Refluxa | 1 (5) | 4 (21) | |||
| Garlic tastea | 2 (10) | ||||
| Dry mouth, cougha | 2 (10) | 1 (5) | |||
| Difficulty swallowing because of number and size of capsules | 2 (11) | ||||
| Total side effects | 3 (14) | 3 (15) | 8 (42) | 2 (11) | |
| (B) Acceptabilityb | |||||
| Ease of taking capsules | ++/+ | 13/6 (91) | 12/6 (90) | 8/5 (68) | 9/7 (84) |
| −−/− | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1/0 (5) | 0/1 (5) | |
| Acceptability | ++/+ | 12/8 (95) | 11/9 (100) | 6/1 (84) | 6/11 (90) |
| −−/− | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1/0 (5) | 0/1 (5) | |
| Willingness to continue after trial | ++/+ | 11/8 (91) | 5/11 (80) | 5/8 (68) | 7/7 (74) |
| −−/− | 0 (0) | 1/0 (5) | 2/0 (11) | 0/1 (5) | |
| Willingness to pay for supplementd | ++/+ | 9/4 (62) | 1/13 (70) | 3/9 (63) | 6/5 (58) |
| −−/− | 0 (0) | 1/1 (10) | 3/0 (16) | 1/1 (11) | |
a
Participants reported minimal side effects in the first week of the trial, but did not find these side effects bothersome and found ways to overcome these.
b
Responses to questions of acceptability were assessed on a five-point Likert scales ranging from 1=very easy/very acceptable/strongly agree (++) to 5=very hard/very unacceptable/strongly disagree (−−).
c
Reported side effects and acceptability of treatment were not statistically significant between the garlic and placebo groups.
d
The willingness to pay for supplements was stronger in the garlic-1-capsule group compared with garlic-2 and -4 capsule groups (P<0.05).