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. 2002 Jan 21;2002(1):CD003530. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003530

Ebden 1986.

Methods Setting: Wales, hospital outpatient clinic
 Length of intervention: 6 weeks
 Design: crossover, no washout
 Randomisation: yes, method not stated
 Allocation concealment: unclear
 Masking: double blind
 Excluded: not stated
 Withdrawals: stated
 Baseline characteristics: no details
 Jadad score: 3
Participants 28 adults: 20M 8F
 Age range: 19‐72 years
 Inclusion criteria
 Patients with chronic asthma whose "attending physician considered their asthma to be poorly controlled and require further treatment"
 15% reversibility in PEFR after inhaled beta2 agonist
 Good inhaler technique
 Exclusion criteria:
 Use of oral steroids within 2 months of the study
Interventions BDP: 250 mcg 3puffs 2xdaily (1500 mcg/day) via MDI
BUD: 200 mcg 4 puffs 2xdaily (1600 mcg/day) via MDI+ collapsible spacer
Outcomes FEV1 
 FVC 
 Morning PEFR 
 Evening PEFR 
 Daily beta2 agonist (puffs/day)
 Daytime wheeze score 
 Morning serum cortisol 
 Serum cortisol 30 minutes post 250mcg tetracosactrin
Notes Reply from author but unable to clarify details of randomisation procedure or if carryover effects were excluded.
 Majority of patients demonstrated a significant improvement in at least one efficacy outcome compared to baseline
Risk of bias
Bias Authors' judgement Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias) Unclear risk B ‐ Unclear