| Methods |
Randomisation: Random numbers table. Drug prepared by ED physician not involved in recruitment.
Blinding: double blinded ‐ similar appearing
Number excluded: not reported.
Withdrawals: 13 (%) of 104 visits. Described, but not reported in groups allocated.
Baseline characteristics: no imbalances demonstrated. No adjusted analyses. |
| Participants |
Location: ED, Presbyterian Hospital, NY, USA.
Participants: 81 adults (91 visits) (18‐45 yrs), acute bronchial asthma. Corticosteroid use permitted.
Asthma definition and severity: not reported.
Exclusion criteria: serious underlying medical illness (sickle cell, HIV, cancer, heart disease), pneumonia, pregnancy, or temperature >38.3 C. Patients could be entered >1. |
| Interventions |
Intervention: 125 mg IV methylprednisolone (MP; 3 ml) 30 minutes after initial treatment.
Control: IV normal saline
Co‐interventions: 3 aerosolized metaproterenol (q 30 min X 2 hrs) and oral theophylline therapy. |
| Outcomes |
Admission: At discretion of treating physician, no specific criteria: relief of wheezing, clear chest examinations, or minimal wheezing. Six hours after study entry, remaining patients were treated with 40mg IV MP. Hospitalization was mandatory if total treatment time was greater than 12 hours.
Pulmonary functions: PEFR.
Adverse effects: not reported.
Vital signs: temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure.
Symptoms: 0‐3 (none, mild, moderate, severe).
Lab: theophylline levels, complete lymphocyte level, electrolytes, .
Timing of assessment: entry, 30 minutes, and 2, 4, 6 hours.
Duration in the ED: measured.
Relapse: 2 and 7 day follow‐up of discharged patients. |
| Notes |
Jadad score:
Author provided 6 hour admission data for this analyses. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Allocation concealment? |
Unclear risk |
Information not available |
