Outcome measures comparing patients treated with prednisone and placebo.
| Prednisone n = 40 | Placebo n = 39 | P-value | Difference of means | 95% CI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) throat pain score | |||||
| VAS at 12 hours | 3.9 (2.5) | 5.9 (2.3) | <0.001 | −2.02 | −0.9 to −3.35 |
| VAS at 24 hours | 2.4 (2.6) | 4.5 (2.9) | 0.002 | −2.1 | −0.77 to −3.22 |
| VAS at 48 hours | 1.8 (2.5) | 2.6 (2.6) | 0.13 | -0.8 | -0.04 to 2.04 |
| VAS at 72 hours | 1.2 (2.3) | 1.2 (1.7) | 0.9 | 0 | −1.2 to 1.1 |
| Proportion of patients pain free (%) | OR | ||||
| at 12 hours | 27.5 | 2.6 | 0.006 | 0.07 | 0.0 to 0.58 |
| at 24 hours | 42.5 | 10.3 | 0.003 | 0.15 | 0.04 to 0.58 |
| at 48 hours | 57.5 | 33.3 | 0.053 | 0.37 | 0.13 to 1.02 |
| at 72 hours | 72.5 | 53.8 | 0.13 | 0.44 | 0.15 to 1.26 |
| Proportion of patients with recurrence at 2-week follow-up (%) | 2.6 | 13.2 | 0.12 | 0.18 | 0.01 to 1.75 |
OR = odds ratio. SD = standard deviation. VAS = visual analogue scale.