ANTITUSSIVE ACTIVITY AND TOLERABILITY OF MOGUISTEINE IN PATIENTS WITHACUTE COUGH - A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY

The efficacy of the antitussive moguisteine 200 mg TID was compared wi th that of placebo in a double-blind trial in 108 general practice pat ients who presented with acute dry/slightly productive cough present f or between 2 and 7 days. The etiology of the cough was either an upper respiratory-tract infection or laryngitis. At study entry and at the final visit, the physician assessed patients by means of a five-point scale. Cough severity of at least grade 2 was required for entry. Usin g a 10-point scale, patients rated daytime and nighttime cough severit y in a daily diary throughout the 3 1/2-day study. Reduction of severi ty scores was consistently greater and earlier with moguisteine than w ith placebo. In patients with more severe cough on entry, the efficacy of moguisteine reached statistical significance (P<.05) for nighttime and combined daytime and nighttime scores on days 2 and 3. No serious adverse events were reported. Moguisteine 200 mg TID has an early eff ect on overall symptomatology and particularly on nocturnal disturbanc e in patients with moderate to severe acute cough. It is safe and well tolerated.