Acceptability of four different oral formulations (n=148 children)
| VAS score | Result of the intake | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| First day (four different groups) | All four days (cross-over design) | All four days | |
| Mean* (95% CI) | Mean* (95% CI) | Mean† (95% CI) | |
| Numerical data | |||
| Tablet | 9.39 (8.85 to 9.93), n=32 | 9.01 (8.75 to 9.28) | 1.96 (1.92 to 2.00) |
| Powder | 8.84 (8.19 to 9.49), n=45 | 8.20 (7.84 to 8.56) | 1.58 (1.44 to 1.71) |
| Suspension | 8.26 (7.47 to 9.04), n=34 | 7.90 (7.42 to 8.38) | 1.70 (1.57 to 1.83) |
| Syrup | 8.35 (7.45 to 9.25), n=37 | 8.19 (7.73 to 8.64) | 1.67 (1.54 to 1.80) |
| p Value‡ | p Value‡ | p Value§ | |
| Testing for any differences | |||
| Tablet versus powder | <0.001 | 0.054 | <0.001 |
| Tablet versus suspension | <0.001 | 0.001 | <0.001 |
| Tablet versus syrup | <0.001 | 0.027 | <0.001 |
| Powder versus suspension | 0.378 | 0.060 | 0.081 |
| Powder versus syrup | 0.869 | 0.611 | 0.168 |
| Suspension versus syrup | 0.164 | 0.302 | 0.513 |
*Estimate of the mean acceptability as expressed on a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS score).
†Estimate of the mean number of administrations of a formulation that were fully swallowed, maximum n=2.00.
‡p Values of the Mann–Whitney/Wilcoxon tests regarding any differences between the mean VAS scores of two different formulations.
§p Values of the Z tests comparing pairs of formulations regarding the mean number of administrations that were fully swallowed.