Comparative acceptance of three transdermal nitroglycerin placebo patches

Factors that might affect patient acceptance of transdermal drug-delivery system patches were evaluated in healthy volunteers using placebo patches. Placebo transdermal nitroglycerin patches (Transderm-Nitro 5 placebo, Ciba Pharmaceutical Company; Nitro-Dur 10 cm2 placebo, Key Pharmaceuticals; and Nitrodisc 5 placebo, Searle Laboratories) were supplied by the manufacturers. Eighty-two healthy subjects were randomly assigned to begin using one of the three brands of patches. Using a Latin-square crossover design, subjects applied each brand of patch daily for five days and crossed over to the other brands on study days 6 and 11. At the end of each study phase, subjects completed a written questionnaire designed to evaluate their overall acceptance of each brand of patch. A total of 80 subjects completed all three phases of the study. According to forced rank preference, 84% of subjects preferred the Ciba patch to one of the other two brands. Subjects judged the Ciba patch to be the easiest of the three brands to use and reported significantly fewer side effects and skin irritation while using the Ciba patch; they also preferred the size of the Ciba patch and experienced significantly fewer problems with adherence of the Ciba patch. A significant percentage of subjects indicated that they would prefer a transdermal patch over tablets or ointment. Most subjects preferred the Ciba patch over the Key patch or Searle patch.