Honey for acute cough in children

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Pharmacology
• Evidence-Based Medicine

Background:

• Acute cough is a common concern for parents, leading to frequent outpatient visits and impacting children's quality of life.
• Various remedies, including honey, are traditionally used to alleviate cough symptoms in children.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of honey for treating acute cough in children in ambulatory settings.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted, searching multiple databases including CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, AMED, LILACS, and CAB abstracts.
• Included RCTs compared honey (alone or with antibiotics) against placebo, no treatment, or other over-the-counter (OTC) cough medications in children aged 2-18 years with acute cough.

Main Results:

• Two RCTs with high risk of bias (265 children) were included. Honey showed benefit over 'no treatment' in reducing cough frequency.
• Moderate evidence suggests honey's effectiveness is comparable to dextromethorphan for cough frequency reduction.
• Low-quality evidence indicates honey might be slightly more effective than diphenhydramine, with similar adverse event profiles across treatments.

Conclusions:

• Honey may provide symptomatic relief for acute cough in children compared to 'no treatment' and diphenhydramine.
• Current evidence does not strongly support or refute the use of honey for acute cough in children.
• Further high-quality research is needed to definitively establish honey's role in pediatric cough management.