ReviewThe World Allergy Organization journal2025
Diphenhydramine: It is time to say a final goodbye.
Review in The World Allergy Organization journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- From sedation to stimulation: anecdotal case reports of enhanced sexual arousal in men and women taking diphenhydramine hydrochloride.Sexual medicine · 2026Article
- Anticholinergic medications and out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest: a new piece to the puzzle?European heart journal · 2025Article
- From cockpit to community: Time to stop the use of first-generation HThe World Allergy Organization journal · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Diphenhydramine, once a pioneering antihistamine, is now overshadowed by second-generation antihistamines with similar efficacy and fewer adverse effects. Current data suggest that the adverse side-effect profile of diphenhydramine is higher among children and older adults. This has led to countries such as Germany and Sweden restricting access to first-generation antihistamines and societal guidelines advocating for the use of second-generation antihistamines. Despite its well-documented problematic therapeutic ratio, diphenhydramine remains available in over 300 formulations, most of which are over-the-counter. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of practice patterns and the prevalence and incidence of adverse clinical events, we believe that diphenhydramine has reached the end of its life cycle, and in its class of therapies it is a relatively greater public health hazard. We recommend it should no longer be widely prescribed or continue to be readily available over the counter.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.