Oral Corticosteroids for Post-infectious Cough in Adults (OSPIC)
Post-infectious Cough
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Post-infectious Cough focused on measuring Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, oral corticosteroid treatment, Cough-related Quality of Life (QoL)
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Patients seeing a GP for a dry or productive post-infectious cough (3 to 8 weeks) after Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI)
- Patients able and willing to give informed consent by themselves and to fill in the LCQ on day 0 with the GP and to answer phone calls from the research staff/study nurse at day 7, 14, and 28, and at 3 months for outcome assessment
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients with known or suspected diagnoses associated with cough, such as: pneumonia or suggestive symptoms and signs (abnormal vital signs, i.e. heart rate >100/min, respiratory rate >25/min, fever), allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchial asthma, chronic pulmonary disease (COPD), or gastroesophageal reflux disease,
- Patients with other chronic disease such as bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, cancer, tuberculosis, heart failure.
- Use of inhaled or oral corticosteroids within the last four weeks
- Immunodeficiency/immunocompromised state (e.g. cancer chemotherapy, HIV infection, administration of immune-suppressive agents)
- Pregnancy/ breastfeeding
- Regular treatment known to be associated with cough (e.g. angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors)
- Patients with pharmacotherapy for glaucoma or osteoporosis
- Experienced fractures due to osteoporosis
- Patients with uncontrolled diabetes (as deemed by GPs who appraise whether the potential side effects of short-time corticosteroids on glucose levels exceed the hypothesised benefit on cough)
Sites / Locations
- Centre for Primary Health Care (uniham-bb); University of Basel; Kantonsspital BasellandRecruiting
- Institute of Primary and Community Care, University of LucerneRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Active Comparator
Placebo Comparator
Intervention group
Control group
Identically looking, numbered and marked medication glass jars with 5 daily doses of 40 mg (2 tablets of 20 mg) of prednisone (intervention group) are provided by General Physicians (GPs) to participants. PREDNISON Galepharm Tabl. 20 mg are manufactured according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-guidelines. The prednisone medication is manufactured by Galepharm AG, 8700 Küsnacht (ZH) and packaged and labelled by the Hospital Pharmacy of the University Hospital Basel. The PREDNISON tablets' active substance is Prednisonum; the tablets also contain Excipiens pro compresso. Swissmedic authorization 50821
Identically looking, numbered and marked medication glass jars with 5 daily doses of placebo (control group) are provided by General Physicians (GPs) to participants. The content of the placebo tablets is as follows: Lactose monohydrate 140 mg, microcrystalline cellulose 68 mg, Croscarmellose sodium 5 mg, Magnesium stearate 2mg. The placebo tablets were manufactured by Apotheke Hotz, Zürichstrasse 176, CH- 8700 Küsnacht.