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Clinical Takeaway
: For children 1 year or older with acute cough, honey may be a sweet alternative to cough medications.Context
Honey is a familiar home remedy to ease a child’s cough, but its effectiveness compared with over-the-counter cough medications is debatable. In this meta-analysis of six randomized, controlled trials, investigators compared honey with diphenhydramine, dextromethorphan, salbutamol, or levodropropizine in ~600 children older than 1 year. Caregivers reported children’s cough symptoms and sleep disruption during follow-up of up to 3 days.
Key Results
Children given honey experienced modest improvement in sleep compared with those given medications.
No significant differences were seen in cough frequency or severity.
After excluding a study that drove much of the variability in post hoc sensitivity analyses, honey was associated with improve…