Baseline characteristics of prednisolone and placebo groups
| Prednisolone no. (%) (n=238) | Placebo no. (%) (n=239) | |
| Male | 147 (61.8) | 137 (57.3) |
| Age, mean (SD), months | 36.4 (10.2) | 36.9 (9.9) |
| Ethnicity—Māori | 75 (31.5) | 80 (33.5) |
| Pacific people | 67 (28.2) | 59 (24.7) |
| Asian | 9 (3.8) | 12 (5.0) |
| European/other | 87 (36.6) | 88 (36.8) |
| Passive tobacco exposure* | 100 (42.4) | 95 (40.8) |
| Previous diagnosis of asthma | 70 (29.4) | 73 (30.5) |
| Wheeze in past—any | 213 (89.5) | 214 (89.5) |
| Wheeze in past with URTI | 202 (84.9) | 200 (83.7) |
| Wheeze in past without URTI | 35 (14.7) | 41 (17.2) |
| Previous diagnosis of eczema | 102 (42.9) | 102 (42.7) |
| Previous diagnosis of hay fever | 39 (16.4) | 41 (17.2) |
| Previous salbutamol use | 184 (77.3) | 187 (78.2) |
| Previous inhaled corticosteroid use | 64 (26.6) | 59 (24.7) |
| Salbutamol responsive† | 138 (58.7) | 128 (54.5) |
| Parental history of asthma | 102 (42.9) | 102 (42.7) |
| Positive Asthma Predictive Index | 141 (59.2) | 147 (61.5) |
| Baseline PRAM score at triage, mean (SD) | 5.7 (1.8) | 5.7 (1.9) |
| PRAM score after first hour of treatment,‡ mean (SD) | 2.9 (2.1) | 2.7 (2.0) |
*Tobacco exposure data available for 236 patients in the prednisolone group and 233 in the placebo group.
†Defined as reduction in PRAM score of ≥3 recorded 20 min following three doses of 600 mcg salbutamol administered via a spacer in the first hour of treatment.
‡Recorded 20 min following three doses of 600 mcg salbutamol administered via spacer in the first hour of treatment.
PRAM, Preschool Respiratory Assessment Measure; SD, standard deviation; URTI, upper respiratory tract infection.