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Use of subjective responses to evaluate efficacy of mild analgesic‐sedative combinations
Author(s) -
Smith Gene M.,
Coletta Cesare G.,
McBride Susan,
McPeek Bucknam
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt1974152118
Subject(s) - sedative , analgesic , bedtime , chloral hydrate , placebo , aspirin , anesthesia , medicine , evening , benzocaine , sedation , hydroxyzine , morning , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , astronomy
Effects of mild analgesic‐sedative combinations on sleep and pain were studied in 420 hospitalized patients, most of whom were young postpartum patients with mild or moderate evening pain who expected to have difficulty sleeping. Each patient took an analgesic‐sedative or a placebo at bedtime, on a double‐blind, random basis, and evaluated its effects the following morning. Two dose levels of chloral hydrate (250 and 500 mg), each given with aspirin (650 mg), were compared with placebo and with each other. Three other analgesic‐sedative combinations, containing methapyrilene fumarate (42 or 50 mg) combined with aspirin and/or aspirin‐like analgesics, were also studied. The combinations containing methapyrilene are similar to ones sold over the counter and are not as subiect to abuse as are medications usually prescribed to induce and maintain sleep. The patient's estimate of number of hours slept significantly differentiated each experimental treatment from each other treatment with which it was compared; other subiective criteria did not differentiate as successfully. The influence of question format, response options, and other such methodological details is illustrated and discussed in this report.