Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34848508›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2021

Rhinothermy delivered by nasal high flow therapy in the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial.

Grace Bird, Irene Braithwaite, James Harper, Iris Koorevaar, Marthe van den Berg, Ingrid Maijers, Nethmi Kearns, Meik Dilcher, Lance Jennings, James Fingleton and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 45% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Effects of Bairui granules (Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025
    Article
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

13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Grace BirdMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand grace.bird@mrinz.ac.nz.ORCID 0000-0002-3761-2778
Irene BraithwaiteMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0001-5327-3027
James HarperMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Iris KoorevaarMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Marthe van den BergMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Ingrid MaijersMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Nethmi KearnsMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0002-3188-991X
Meik DilcherCanterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Lance JenningsCanterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand.
James FingletonMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Nick ShorttMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
Mark WeatherallUniversity of Otago Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.
Richard BeasleyMedical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.ORCID 0000-0003-0337-406X
Medical Research Institute of New Zealand · NZCanterbury Health Laboratories · NZUniversity of Otago · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe common cold is the most common infectious disease affecting humans and has a substantial economic impact on society. Human rhinoviruses, which cause almost two-thirds of colds, have demonstrated temperature-dependent replication which is optimal between 33°C and 35°C.

methodsThis randomised, single-blind, parallel-group trial completed at a single-centre in New Zealand, recruited 170 participants aged 18-75 years (mean age 27.5 years) who were within 48 hours of common cold symptom onset and had a symptom score (the Modified Jackson Score (MJS)) ≥7 and a negative point-of-care test for influenza. Participants were blinded to the intervention and randomised (1:1) to 5 days of either nasal high flow rhinothermy (rNHF) (100% humidified air delivered at 35 L/min and 41°C for 2 hours daily) (n=85) or 'sham' rhinothermy (100% humidified air delivered at 10 L/min and 31°C for 10 min daily) (n=85) and completed daily symptom diaries, which included the MJS, for 14 days, to investigate whether rNHF reduced common cold symptom severity and duration compared with 'sham' rhinothermy.

resultsAn intention-to-treat superiority analysis included all randomised participants and showed no difference between treatment groups for the primary outcome, the day 4 MJS analysed by analysis of covariance: mean (SD) 6.33 (3.97) for rNHF vs 5.8 (3.15) for 'sham'; estimated difference (95% CI) 0.37 (-0.69 to 1.42), p=0.49. There was no difference in time until resolution of symptoms: mean (SD) 5.96 (4.47) days for rNHF vs 6.42 (4.09) days for 'sham'; estimated difference (95% CI) 1.02 (0.75 to 1.38), p=0.91. There were no serious adverse events related to the study treatments.

conclusionsThis well-powered, single-blind randomised controlled trial does not provide evidence that 5 days of rNHF (100% humidified air heated to 41°C delivered at 35 L/min for 2 hours daily) reduces common cold symptom severity or duration. However, investigation of rNHF in the treatment of influenza is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12617001340325.

Indexed as

Common ColdAdultHot TemperatureHumansHumidityRespiratory TherapySingle-Blind Methodclinical trialsrespiratory infectionsvirology

Identifiers

PMID34848508
PMCPMC8634207
OpenAlexW3215621259

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.