Demonstration of the effectiveness of zinc in diarrhoea of children living in Switzerland

Study answer

What this study found

Zinc improved diarrhoea outcomes in the per-protocol analysis, although the intention-to-treat results were less consistent because of compliance and follow-up issues. Per-protocol median diarrhoea duration was 47.5 hours with zinc versus 76.3 hours with placebo (P=0.03), and diarrhoea frequency between days 2 and 4 was 3 stools versus 9 stools (P=0.02). In the intention-to-treat analysis, persistent diarrhoea at 120 hours was 2/37 (5%) with zinc versus 8/39 (21%) with placebo (P=0.05), while median duration was 65 hours versus 68 hours. The authors concluded that zinc can be effective for…

Study & population

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in otherwise healthy children aged 2 months to 5 years with acute diarrhoea at Hôpital de l'Enfance, Lausanne University Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Intervention

Oral zinc sulphate was given as dispersible tablets for 10 days: 10 mg once daily in children younger than 6 months and 20 mg once daily in children 6 months and older.

Key limitation

Substantial attrition and incomplete analysis sets reduced interpretability, with 42 of 74 randomized zinc participants analyzed and 45 of 74 placebo participants analyzed.

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Original abstract