Multi-Centre Double-Blind Comparison of Terfenadine Once Daily versus Twice Daily in Patients with Hay Fever

Abstract

This double-blind, randomized multi-centre study was designed to compare efficacy and tolerability of 120 mg terfenadine taken once daily (in the morning) with the established regimen of 60 mg terfenadine taken twice daily in the treatment of seasonal rhinitis. Two comparable groups, a total of 191 hay fever patients, were treated for 1 week. Symptom severity was assessed by the investigators before and at the end of the treatment (visual analogue scale), and daily by the patient (four-point rating scale). All symptoms improved to a similar degree in both groups. Differences between the two groups were not statistically significant, except for nasal symptoms in three cases as assessed by the visual analogue scale in one centre (better relief in the group given 120 mg terfenadine once daily). Tolerability was good and similar in both groups. The data presented show that in the treatment of hay fever 120 mg terfenadine given once daily is an effective, convenient and well tolerated alternative to the regimen of 60 mg terfenadine given twice daily.

MACVIA-ARIA Sentinel NetworK for allergic rhinitis (MASK-rhinitis): the new generation guideline implementation

“…VAS was highly responsive to change in double-blind, placebo-controlled RCTs (92,93,102,(105)(106)(107)(108). These multicentre studies in Europe and Canada showed that patients easily cope with VAS in different languages.…”

Terfenadine with or without phenylpropanolamine in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis

“…On average, symptom relief occurs in about 1 hr and increasing the dose to 120 mg twice daily does not give significantly better control of seasonal allergic rhinitis [7]. On the other hand, Henauer et al [8] showed, in a double-blind study, that 120 mg terfenadine taken once daily in the morning was as effective as 60 mg twice daily in the treatment of hay fever. The standard dose of phenylpropanolamine is 50 mg twice daily.…”

Visuelle Analogskalen (VAS) als Messinstrumente zur Dokumentation der Symptomatik und Therapiekontrolle einer allergischen Rhinitis in der Routineversorgung

“…VAS were also used as an evaluation parameter in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies [50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. In two large AR studies to evaluate treatment outcomes with antihistamines, VAS were better able to discriminate between placebo-and verum-treated patients than could the total symptom score [50,51].…”