Public HealthIbuprofen And Paracetamol For Fever In Pre-School Children, UK
New research published by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme has found that while ibuprofen and paracetamol is more effective when used together when treating fever in pre-school children, ibuprofen should be used first as this will reduce the temperature quicker.
Fever is very common in young children, affecting seven in every 10 pre-school children each year and ibuprofen and paracetamol are increasingly used together to treat it, despite a lack of evidence regarding their clinical or cost-effectiveness.
The Bristol-based trial recruited 156 children aged between six months and six years across three recruitment settings termed: "local" where research nurses recruited from NHS primary care sites; "remote" where NHS sites notified the study of potentially eligible children and "community" where parents contacted the study in response to local media advertisements.
The research team found that using both medicines together cleared the fever 23 minutes faster than paracetamol alone, but no faster than ibuprofen. Over the five day study period using both medicines was also found to be the cheapest option for the NHS due to the lower use of health services.
Lead researcher Dr Alastair Hay, consultant senior lecturer in primary health care at the University of Bristol says "Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and parents wanting to use medicines to treat young, unwell children with fever should be advised to use ibuprofen first. However, parents should keep a careful record of when doses are given to avoid accidentally giving too much".
To view the full project details visit http://www.hta.ac.uk/1412
The results have also previously published in the BMJ
Notes
1. The HTA programme is a programme of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and produces high quality research information about the effectiveness, costs, and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. It is the largest of the NIHR programmes and publishes the results of its research in the Health Technology Assessment journal, with over 470 issues published to date. The journal"s 2007 Impact Factor (3.87) ranked it in the top 10% of medical and health-related journals. All issues are available for download free of charge from the website, http://www.hta.ac.uk The HTA programme is coordinated by the NETSCC, HTA based at the University of Southampton.
2. The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high-quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. http://www.nihr.ac.uk
National Institute for Health Research