Over-the-Counter Cough Medicines: Do They Work?
When your child has a nighttime cough, sleep - your kid's and your own - is often in short supply. Over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines claim to reduce the frequency and severity of nighttime coughing so you can get some rest, but do they work?
Researchers compared several OTC cough syrups to a sugar syrup to determine their effectiveness in relieving nighttime cough associated with upper respiratory infections.
The parents of 100 2- to 18-year-old children (the average age of the children was 4.5 years) who had been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection completed short questionnaires about their child's cough at the doctor's office. Parents noted how often their child coughed, the cough's severity, how it affected their ability to sleep, and how bothersome the cough was. One-third of the parents randomly received cough medicine with diphenhydramine (an antihistamine, which is available over the counter); one-third received cough medicine with dextromethorphan (DM, the most common type of OTC cough medicine); and one-third received a placebo syrup. The day after giving their children the medicine, parents completed another cough survey.
Some coughs are dry,
while others are considered productive.
A productive cough is one that brings up mucus.
The OTC cough medicines worked no better than the placebo made of sugar syrup, say researchers. For all of the kids in the study - regardless of treatment group - coughing improved on the second night of the study when either medicine or the placebo was given. In addition, kids who were given dextromethorphan were more likely to have trouble sleeping, and drowsiness was more commonly reported in kids given diphenhydramine.
What This Means to You:
Consumers spend billions of dollars each year on cough medicines available over the counter. OTC cough medicines are no more effective than a placebo sugar syrup, according to the results of this study, and come with the risk of unwanted side effects. Although cough is one of the most common reasons for a visit to the doctor, it usually is not a symptom of anything serious - although you and your child may lose some sleep. In some cases, though, a cough could be a symptom that warrants a call to your child's doctor. If your child is having trouble breathing, is wheezing, or has a high fever, call your child's doctor or visit the hospital emergency department.
