Palatability of oral corticosteroids in the UK
| Total no of patients (n=133) | 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 (%) | Like a little (%) | Like very much (%) | ||||||||
| Day 1 | n=133 | Prednisolone base | 38 | 29 (77) | 5 (13) | 2 (5) | 2 (5) | 0 | 1.39 | 0.82 | (1.12 to 1.67) | <0.0001† |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 42 | 15 (36) | 11 (26) | 10 (24) | 5 (12) | 1 (2) | 2.19 | 1.1 | (1.84 to 2.54) | |||
| Dexamethasone | 53 | 3 (6) | 15 (28) | 20 (38) | 9 (17) | 6 (11) | 3 | 1.1 | (2.7 to 3.3) | |||
| Day 2 | n=55 | Prednisolone base | 31 | 19 (61) | 6 (20) | 5 (16) | 1 (3) | 0 | 1.61 | 0.88 | (1.29 to 1.94) | 0.009† |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 24 | 4 (17) | 14 (58) | 4 (17) | 1 (4) | 1 (4) | 2.21 | 0.93 | (1.81 to 2.6) | |||
| Day 3 | n=55 | Prednisolone base | 31 | 13 (42) | 8 (26) | 8 (26) | 2 (6) | 0 | 1.97 | 0.98 | (1.61 to 2.33) | 0.019† |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 24 | 1 (4) | 13 (54) | 7 (30) | 2 (8) | 1 (4) | 2.54 | 0.88 | (2.71 to 2.91) | |||
| Day 4 | n=9 | Prednisolone base | 6 | 3 (49) | 1 (17) | 1 (17) | 1 (17) | 0 | 2 | 1.27 | (0.67 to 3.33) | 0.131 |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 3 | 0 | 3 (100) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | – | – | |||
| Day 5 | n=9 | Prednisolone base | 6 | 3 (49) | 1 (17) | 1 (17) | 1 (17) | 0 | 2 | 1.27 | (0.67 to 3.33) | 0.131 |
| Prednisolone sodium phosphate | 3 | 0 | 3 (100) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | – | – | |||
*1=dislike very much, 2=dislike a little, 3=not sure, 4=like a little, 5=like very much.
†Significant results.