Palatability Assessment of Carbocysteine Oral Solution Strawberry Taste Versus Carbocysteine Oral Solution Mint Taste: A Blinded Randomized Study

Abstract

Objective: To compare and evaluate the palatability of two carbocysteine oral solutions (strawberry vs. mint taste) among healthy children aged 2–12 years.Methods: A randomized, triple-blind, crossover, palatability trial in 42 children aged 2–12 years. All subjects received two preparations of carbocysteine oral solutions (strawberry vs. mint) according to randomized administration sequences, and the administration process was recorded by video. The palatability assessed by emotional valences was performed using a facial action coding system by FaceReader™, which reflected the quantification degree of emotion; a positive value represents positive emotion, and a negative value represents negative emotion. At the same time, a face-to-face interview was conducted for 5- to 12-year-old participants. Then, the taste preferential rates were compared to assess the palatability of two carbocysteine oral solutions.Results: Forty-two children were enrolled in this study. Twenty children first tasted the carbocysteine oral solution mint taste and then the strawberry taste preparation (M-S sequence), while 22 children tasted the strawberry preparation first and then the mint one (S-M sequence). The emotional valence of mint preparation (−0.9 in M-S and −1.2 in S-M) was both relatively lower than that of strawberry taste (both −0.7 in M-S and S-M) in two sequences; 69.0% (29/42) of participants’ emotional valences for strawberry preparation were higher than those for mint preparation. Among 27 participants aged ≥5 years, the taste preference rate was 88.5% (23/26) for the strawberry preparation (one missing value for the taste preference), and 77.8% of participants (21/27) chose the strawberry preparation if they had to take the medicine one more time.Conclusion: The carbocysteine oral solution with strawberry taste is an appealing preparation since it was better received by children. The facial action coding system could be an effective alternative for palatability assessment of pediatric pharmaceutical products.

Using facial reaction analysis and machine learning to objectively assess palatability of medicines in children

“…Two previous studies have assessed the use of facial recognition technology to evaluate palatability in the context of medicinal products in children (26,27). However, the main differences of our study compared to the previous studies are as follows.…”

“…Similarly, Peng et al (27), used the same software to compare the palatability of two preparations of carbocysteine among healthy children aged 2-12 years. The palatability assessed by emotional valences was performed using a facial action coding system by FaceReader™, which reflected the quantification of emotions; a positive value represents a positive emotion, and a negative value represents a negative emotion (27).…”

Randomised, blinded, cross-over evaluation of the palatability of and preference for different potassium binders in participants with chronic hyperkalaemia in the USA, Canada and Europe: the APPETIZE study

“…Palatability is an under-recognised factor in drug development that can have a significant impact on long-term treatment adherence among patients and prescribing patterns among physicians 34–38. Studies evaluating the palatability of K + binders12 or other medications35 38 are scarce.…”

“…Palatability is an under-recognised factor in drug development that can have a significant impact on long-term treatment adherence among patients and prescribing patterns among physicians. [34][35][36][37][38] Studies evaluating the palatability of K + binders 12 or other medications 35 38 are scarce. In one phase I study, three formulations of a calcium-containing polystyrene sulfonate (RDX7675) were evaluated versus SPS.…”

Evaluating palatability in young children: a mini-review of relevant physiology and assessment techniques

“…As recently reviewed by Peng et al (1), the palatability of pediatric pharmaceutical products for children can adversely influence medication compliance. The rejection of unpalatable pharmaceutical products can negatively impact therapeutic adherence which, in turn can lead to treatment failure which may have both immediate consequences (e.g., in the case of oral liquid antimicrobials, persistence of disease) and potentially, delayed consequences (e.g., fostering antibiotic resistance) (2)(3)(4) In a survey of drug administration methods and their relationship to compliance (5), reported that more than 50% of children aged 6 years or less had difficulty swallowing oral drug formulations.…”