Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29255098›Full record

Trial reportCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2017

Probiotic capsules and xylitol chewing gum to manage symptoms of pharyngitis: a randomized controlled factorial trial.

Paul Little, Beth Stuart, Zoe Wingrove, Mark Mullee, Tammy Thomas, Sophie Johnson, Gerry Leydon, Samantha Richards-Hall, Ian Williamson, Lily Yao and 2 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 12% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Probiotics for preventing acute upper respiratory tract infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. 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

12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Paul LittlePrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK P.Little@soton.ac.uk.
Beth StuartPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Zoe WingrovePrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Mark MulleePrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Tammy ThomasPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Sophie JohnsonPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Gerry LeydonPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Samantha Richards-HallPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Ian WilliamsonPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Lily YaoPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Shihua ZhuPrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
Michael MoorePrimary Care Group (Little, Stuart, Wingrove, Mullee, Thomas, Johnson, Leydon, Williamson, Moore); Health Economic Analyses Team (Yao, Zhu), Primary Care and Population Sciences Unit, University of Southampton; Patient and Public Involvement Collaborator (Richards-Hall), Southampton, UK.
University of Southampton · GB

Funding

Department of Health RP-PG-0407-10098
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundReducing the use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections is needed to limit the global threat of antibiotic resistance. We estimated the effectiveness of probiotics and xylitol for the management of pharyngitis.

methodsIn this parallel-group factorial randomized controlled trial, participants in primary care (aged 3 years or older) with pharyngitis underwent randomization by nurses who provided sequential intervention packs. Pack contents for 3 kinds of material and advice were previously determined by computer-generated random numbers: no chewing gum, xylitol-based chewing gum (15% xylitol; 5 pieces daily) and sorbitol gum (5 pieces daily). Half of each group were also randomly assigned to receive either probiotic capsules (containing 24 × 10

resultsA total of 1009 individuals consented, 934 completed the baseline assessment, and 689 provided complete data for the primary outcome. Probiotics were not effective in reducing the severity of symptoms: mean severity scores 2.75 with no probiotic and 2.78 with probiotic (adjusted difference -0.001, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.24 to 0.24). Chewing gum was also ineffective: mean severity scores 2.73 without gum, 2.72 with sorbitol gum (adjusted difference 0.07, 95% CI -0.23 to 0.37) and 2.73 with xylitol gum (adjusted difference 0.01, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.30). None of the secondary outcomes differed significantly between groups, and no harms were reported.

interpretationNeither probiotics nor advice to chew xylitol-based chewing gum was effective for managing pharyngitis.

Indexed as

Chewing GumAnti-Infective Agents, LocalBifidobacterium bifidumChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansLactobacillus acidophilusMalePharyngitisProbioticsTreatment OutcomeXylitolAnti-Infective Agents, LocalChewing GumXylitol

Identifiers

PMID29255098
PMCPMC5738247
OpenAlexW2776717268

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.