Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24525393›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2014

Randomised placebo-controlled study of the effect of paracetamol on asthma severity in adults.

Sally J Ioannides, Mathew Williams, Sarah Jefferies, Kyle Perrin, Mark Weatherall, Robert Siebers, Julian Crane, Mitesh Patel, Justin Travers, Philippa Shirtcliffe and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Long-term adverse effects of paracetamol - a review.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2018
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Sally J IoannidesMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Mathew Williams
Sarah Jefferies
Kyle Perrin
Mark Weatherall
Robert Siebers
Julian Crane
Mitesh Patel
Justin Travers
Philippa Shirtcliffe
Richard Beasley
Capital and Coast District Health Board · NZMedical Research Institute of New Zealand · NZUniversity of Otago · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate the effect of regular paracetamol on bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) and asthma control in adult asthma.

settingSingle research-based outpatient clinic.

participants94 adults with mild-to-moderate asthma received randomised treatment; 85 completed the study. Key inclusion criteria were age 18-65 years, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) >70% predicted, provocation concentration of methacholine causing a 20% reduction in FEV1 (PC20) between 0.125 and 16 mg/mL. Key exclusion criteria included an asthma exacerbation within the previous 2 months, current regular use of paracetamol, use of high-dose aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, current or past cigarette smoking >10 pack-years.

interventionsIn a 12-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, participants received 12 weeks of 1 g paracetamol twice daily or placebo twice daily. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome variable was BHR, measured as the PC20 at week 12. Secondary outcome variables included FEV1, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score.

resultsAt 12 weeks, the mean (SD) logarithm base two PC20 was 1.07 (2.36) in the control group (N=54) and 0.62 (2.09) in the paracetamol group (N=31). After controlling for baseline PC20, the mean difference (paracetamol minus placebo) was -0.48 doubling dose worsening in BHR in the paracetamol group (95% CI -1.28 to 0.32), p=0.24. There were no statistically significant differences (paracetamol minus placebo) in log FeNO (0.09 (95% CI -0.097 to 0.27)), FEV1 (-0.07 L (95% CI -0.15 to 0.01)) or ACQ score (-0.04 (95% CI -0.27 to 0.18)).

conclusionsThere was no significant effect of paracetamol on BHR and asthma control in adults with mild-to-moderate asthma. However, the study findings are limited by low power and the upper confidence limits did not rule out clinically relevant adverse effects.

trial registrationAustralia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Number: NZCTR12609000551291.

Indexed as

AcetaminophenAdultAnalgesics, Non-NarcoticAsthmaBreath TestsBronchial HyperreactivityBronchial Provocation TestsDouble-Blind MethodFemaleForced Expiratory VolumeHumansMaleMiddle AgedNitric OxideSeverity of Illness IndexSurveys and QuestionnairesAcetaminophenAnalgesics, Non-NarcoticNitric Oxide

Identifiers

PMID24525393
PMCPMC3927716
OpenAlexW2015695537

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.