Trial reportBMJ open2020
Zinc acetate lozenges for the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03309995 (The Effect of Zinc Acetate Lozenges on the Rate of Recovery From the Common Cold), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
The Effect of Zinc Acetate Lozenges on the Rate of Recovery From the Common Cold: a Randomized Trial
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Zinc for prevention and treatment of the common cold.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The impact of cineole treatment timing on common cold duration and symptoms: Non-randomized exploratory clinical trial.PloS one · 2024Trial
- Designing, Characterization, and Optimization of Nystatin Loaded Mucoadhesive Spanlastical Hard Candy Lozenges as a Treatment of Oral Candidiasis: An in-vivo Study on Rats.Drug design, development and therapy · 2025Article
- The association between nutrients and occurrence of COVID-19 outcomes in the population of Western Iran: A cohort study.The clinical respiratory journal · 2023Article
- Efficacy and tolerability of zinc acetate for treatment of chronic refractory cough: pilot randomised futility trial.ERJ open research · 2023Article
- Quantile Treatment Effect of Zinc Lozenges on Common Cold Duration: A Novel Approach to Analyze the Effect of Treatment on Illness Duration.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- Dietary Supplements for COVID-19.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2021Review
- The Implications of Zinc Therapy in Combating the COVID-19 Global Pandemic.Journal of inflammation research · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine a commercially available zinc acetate lozenge for treating the common cold.
designRandomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.
settingWorking population in Finland.
participantsWe included men and women aged ≥18 years who usually had ≥1 cold per winter. Exclusions were pregnancy, lactation, chronic runny nose or chronic cough.
interventionWe randomised 253 participants to receive a package of lozenges to be taken if they caught the common cold. Of the 253 participants, 88 contracted the common cold and 87 were included in our primary analysis. Zinc acetate lozenges contained 13 mg elemental zinc and placebo lozenges contained sucrose octa-acetate to camouflage the taste of zinc. Instruction to use was six times per day for the maximum of 5 days. PRIMARY OUTCOME: Rate of recovery from the common cold analysed by Cox regression.
resultsThere was no difference in the recovery rate between zinc and placebo participants during the 10-day follow-up (rate ratio for zinc vs placebo=0.68, 95% CI 0.42 to 1.08; p=0.10). The recovery rate for the two groups was similar during the 5-day intervention, but for 2 days after the end of zinc/placebo use, the zinc participants recovered significantly slower compared with the placebo participants (p=0.003). In the zinc group, 37% did not report adverse effects, the corresponding proportion being 69% in the placebo group.
conclusionsA commercially available zinc acetate lozenge was not effective in treating the common cold when instructed to be used for 5 days after the first symptoms. Taste has been a common problem in previous zinc lozenge trials, but a third of zinc participants did not complain of any adverse effects. More research is needed to evaluate the characteristics of zinc lozenges that may be clinically efficacious before zinc lozenges can be widely promoted for common cold treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03309995.
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Registered trials
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.