| Methods |
Randomisation: Treatments were numbered by a pharmacist in random order before the start of the study using a random numbers table.
Blinding: double‐blind.
Number excluded: documented (26%).
Withdrawals: 8 documented.
Baseline characteristics: imbalances demonstrated; no adjusted analyses. |
| Participants |
Location: Children's Hospital in Brighton, UK.
Participants: age > 18 mo. with acute asthma requiring admission (after 5 mg nebulised salbutamol and re‐assessment in 30 minutes) if study investigator available.
Asthma definition and severity: "severe". severe asthma requiring admission
Exclusion criteria: Mild asthma, croup, corticosteroids within the past 2 weeks. |
| Interventions |
Intervention: 2 mg/kg oral prednisolone
Control: identical placebo
Co‐interventions: 5 mg nebulized salbutamol q 1‐4 hrs x 3 hrs. Supplemental oxygen was used for nebulisation. |
| Outcomes |
Admission: based on history, physical findings, and response to therapy (at 4 hours).
Pulmonary functions: PEFR and % predicted PEFR
Adverse effects: tremor, hyperactivity, vomiting, headache.
Vital signs: pulse rate, saturation,
Symptoms: scale from 0‐6.
Lab: not reported.
Timing of assessment: 0, q 30 minutes, 4 hours. |
| Notes |
Jadad score:
Author correspondence successful, but unable to provide data. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment? |
Low risk |
Treatments were numbered by a pharmacist in random order before the start of the study using a random numbers table. |
