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Scopolamine (hyoscine) for preventing and treating motion sickness
Anneliese Spinks1, Jason Wasiak
1School of Medicine, Griffith University, University Drive, Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia, 4031.
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|June 17, 2011
Summary
Scopolamine effectively prevents motion sickness symptoms compared to placebo. However, its comparative effectiveness against other drugs and its therapeutic use for existing symptoms require further research.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Clinical Medicine
- Evidence-Based Medicine
Background:
- Motion sickness, characterized by nausea and vomiting, affects individuals during perceived motion and has various treatment options.
- Scopolamine (hyoscine) has a long history of use for motion sickness, but its effectiveness lacks comprehensive systematic review.
- This review updates previous analyses, focusing on scopolamine's efficacy in preventing and treating motion sickness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of scopolamine against no treatment, placebo, other medications, and behavioral or complementary therapies for motion sickness.
- To assess scopolamine's efficacy in individuals without pre-existing vestibular, visual, or central nervous system conditions.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a systematic review of parallel-arm, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) identified through extensive database searches up to April 2011.
- Included studies comparing scopolamine to placebo, other drugs, or combination therapies, assessing prevention, treatment, task ability, and adverse effects.
- Extracted data independently, assessed study quality, and used a random-effects model for pooled odds ratio calculations.
Main Results:
- Scopolamine demonstrated superior effectiveness compared to placebo in preventing motion sickness symptoms.
- Limited evidence suggests scopolamine may be superior to methscopolamine and equivalent to antihistamines for prevention.
- No studies evaluated scopolamine's effectiveness in treating established motion sickness symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Scopolamine is effective in preventing motion sickness when compared to placebo.
- Insufficient evidence exists to conclude on scopolamine's comparative effectiveness against other anti-motion sickness agents.
- Further RCTs are needed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of scopolamine for active motion sickness symptoms.
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