Palatability of oral corticosteroids in SA
| Total number of patients (n=122) | No | Taste of medication | Mean of taste score (1–5)* | SD | 95% CI for mean | p-Value | ||||
| Dislike very much (%) | Dislike a little (%) | Not sure or neutral (%) | ||||||||
| Day 1 | n=122 | Prednisolone base | 52 | 46 (89) | 6 (11) | 0 | 1.12 | 0.32 | (1.03 to 1.21) | <0.0001†‡ |
| Prednisolone Sodium Phosphate | 37 | 18 (49) | 15 (40) | 4 (11) | 1.62 | 0.68 | (1.39 to 1.85) | |||
| Dexamethasone | 33 | 9 (27) | 16 (49) | 8 (24) | 1.97 | 0.73 | (1.71 to 2.23) | |||
| Day 2 | n=82 | Prednisolone base | 45 | 29 (64) | 13 (29) | 3 (7) | 1.42 | 0.62 | (1.24 to 1.61) | <0.0001* |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 37 | 4 (11) | 25 (68) | 8 (21) | 2.11 | 0.57 | (1.92 to 2.30) | |||
| Day 3 | n=74 | Prednisolone base | 42 | 17 (40) | 22 (53) | 3 (7) | 1.67 | 0.61 | (1.48 to 1.86) | <0.0001* |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 32 | 1 (3) | 18 (56) | 13 (41) | 2.38 | 0.55 | (2.18 to 2.57) | |||
| Day 4 | n=11 | Prednisolone base | 10 | 1 (10) | 7 (70) | 2 (20) | 2.1 | 0.57 | (1.69 to 2.51) | 0.364± |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (100) | 3 | – | – | |||
| Day 5 | n=5 | Prednisolone base | 5 | 0 | 3 (60) | 2 (40) | 2.4 | 0.54 | – | – |
*1=dislike very much, 2=dislike a little, 3=not sure, 4=like a little, 5=like very much.
†Significant results.
‡Fisher’s exact test.
SA, Saudi Arabia.