Inhaled ciclesonide versus inhaled budesonide or inhaled beclomethasone or inhaled fluticasone for chronic asthma in adults: a systematic review

Table 3 RCT Methodological Characteristics

Author	Year	Population		Comp.	Duration	Conceal-ment	Blinding		Random-isation	Attrition	Balance at baseline	Equal handling
Kanniess et al	2001	No. completing	15	BUD	2 weeks crossover 3–8 weeks washout	No info about allocation	Participant	Yes	Yes but no evidence of method	1 (5.25%)	no	yes
		Mean age	33				Admin.	no
		Stable	yes				Observer	yes
		Non smokers only	yes				Analyst	?
		Mean FEV1 % pred:	94
Nave et al	2005	No. completing	18	BUD	Combined treatment Oropharyngeal washings taken at 0 mins on day 1, 15 mins on day2, 30 mins on day 3, 45 mins on day 4 and 60 mins on day 5.	No info about allocation	Participant	no	Yes but no evidence of method	0	yes	yes
		Mean age	33				Admin.	no
		Stable	yes				Observer	no
		Non smokers only	no				Analyst	?
		Mean FEV1 % pred:	?
Lee, Fardon et al	2005	No. completing	14	FP	4 weeks crossover 2 weeks washout	No info about allocation	Participant	yes	Yes but no evidence of method	6 (30%)	yes	yes
		Mean age	47				Admin.	?
		Stable	yes				Observer	?
		Non smokers only	yes				Analyst	?
		Mean FEV1 % pred:	77
Lee, Haggart et al	2004	No. completing	19	FP	4 weeks crossover 2 weeks washout	No info about allocation	Participant	yes	Yes but no evidence of method	4 (17.5%)	yes	yes
		Mean age	45				Admin.	?
		Stable	yes				Observer	?
		Non smokers only	yes				Analyst	?
		Mean FEV1 % pred:	90
Richter et al	2005	No. completing	18	FP	Combined treatment Treatement 5–14 days (5 treatments in total at 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes). Minimum 1 day washout	No info about allocation	Participant	no	Yes but no evidence of method	0	yes	yes
		Mean age	37				Admin.	no
		Stable	yes				Observer	no
		Non smokers only	no				Analyst	?
		Mean FEV1 % pred:	91

ISSN: 2731-4553