Homeopathic Cold Remedy for Children Study

December 31, 2014 updated by: James Taylor, University of Washington

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Homeopathic Cold Remedy for Children

A randomized controlled trial of a commercially available homeopathic cold remedy will be conducted. A total of 400 children, 2-5 years old, diagnosed with an upper respiratory tract infection will be randomized to receive either the homeopathic remedy or placebo. Parents of study children will administer 5 ml of the study medication up to 6 times per day as needed to treat cold symptoms. One hour after giving a dose the parent will rate change in symptoms (for up to the first 10 doses). In addition, parents will rate their child's overall symptom severity and functional status over the first 3 days of the cold. It is postulated that children receiving the active homeopathic remedy will have better symptom relief and that their symptom severity and functional status will improve more rapidly than those receiving placebo.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
263

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98105
        • University of Washington Medical Center- Roosevelt Pediatric Care Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 5 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • clinical diagnosis of upper respiratory tract infection
  • duration of symptoms < 7 days
  • Parent who speaks English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of asthma
  • on any prescribed medication
  • prescribed any medication other than acetaminophen or ibuprofen at index visit
  • use of homeopathic remedy within 48 hours of index visit

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Homeopathic cold remedy
5 ml of homeopathic cold remedy given by mouth up to 6 times per day as needed for cold symptoms
Drug: Hyland's Cold 'n Cough 4 kids
5 ml PO q4h prn cold symptoms
Placebo Comparator: placebo
5 ml of placebo given by mouth up to 6 times per day as needed for cold symptoms
Drug: placebo
liquid made to look like the active homeopathic remedy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Severity of Cold Symptoms
Time Frame: Parents assessed change in symptom 1 hour after a dose of study medication
Parents measured change in runny nose, cough, nasal congestion and sneezing severity one hour after administering a dose of study medication up to the first 10 doses of study medication. Change in symptom rated from 0 to 6, with 0 indicative of the symptom being much worse and 6 indicative of the symptom being much improved. The unit of analysis for each outcome was doses of medication. Each participant could contribute data on 0 - 10 doses.
Parents assessed change in symptom 1 hour after a dose of study medication

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Non-specific Symptoms
Time Frame: Parents assessed change in symptom 1 hour after dose of study medication
Parents measured change in severity of irritability, lethargy, fussiness, and appetite one hour after administering a dose of study medication up to the first 10 doses of study medication. Change in symptom rated from 0 to 6, with 0 indicative of the symptom being much worse and 6 indicative of the symptom being much improved. The unit of analysis for each outcome was doses of medication. Each participant could contribute data on 0 - 10 doses.
Parents assessed change in symptom 1 hour after dose of study medication
Functional Status
Time Frame: 10 days
Change in functional status of child during the 7-10 days after the index visit for an upper respiratory tract infection. Parents rated 5 activities (vigorous activity, activities that require concentration, activities with family or friends, appetite and sleep) daily for 3 days in their child and again at the 7-10 day follow-up. Functional status scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicative of better functional status.
10 days
Health Status
Time Frame: 10 days
Change in health status of child during the 7-10 days after the index visit for an upper respiratory tract infection. Parents rated health status on 1-10 scale with 1 indicating perfect health and 10 indicating very sick. Health status rated on first 3 days of study and again at the 7-10 day follow-up
10 days
Overall Symptom Severity
Time Frame: 10 days
Change in cold symptoms of child during the 7-10 days after the index visit for an upper respiratory tract infection. Parents assessed severity of runny nose, cough, sneeze and congestion in their child using a 0-3 scale for each symptom, 0=none to 3= severe. Cold score is sum of scores for each symptom. Parents assessed cold score twice daily on study days 1-3 and at the 7-10 day follow-up
10 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Washington

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Standard Homeopathic Company

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 8, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 8, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 9, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 14, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 31, 2014

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2014

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 39489-D

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings