Efficacy and safety of different doses of zinc in the treatment of diarrhea in children：a systematic review / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy and safety of different doses of zinc in the treatment of diarrhea in children， and to provide a reference for clinical safe and rational drug use. METHODS Retrieved from PubMed， Cochrane Library， Embase database， randomized controlled trials about zinc （zinc group） versus placebo or conventional treatment （control group） in the treatment of diarrhea in children were collected from the inception to October 2022. Then， the quality of the included literature was evaluated by the Cochrane Handbook 6.0， and meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed by RevMan 5.3 software. RESULTS Finally， 25 RCTs were included， with a total of 8 618 children. The results of meta-analysis showed that in terms of duration of diarrhea， in zinc ＜20 mg group， the zinc group was significantly shorter than the control group [SMD＝ －0.39， 95%CI（－0.71， －0.08）， P＝0.01]， but in subgroups of ＜6 months old， there was no significant difference between the two groups [SMD＝0.01， 95%CI（－0.10， 0.11）， P＝0.88]. In zinc 20 mg group， the zinc group was significantly shorter than the control group [SMD＝－0.52， 95%CI（－0.80， －0.23）， P＝0.000 3]. In zinc ＞20 mg group， the zinc group was significantly shorter than the control group [SMD＝－0.83， 95%CI（－1.39， －0.27）， P＝0.004]. In zinc ＞10 mg （age ≤12 months） or zinc ＞ 20 mg （age ＞12 months） group （short for “constant dose group”）， the zinc group was significantly shorter than the control group [SMD＝－0.16， 95%CI（－0.27， －0.06）， P＝ 0.003]. In the aspect of diarrhea rate after 7 days of treatment，there was no significant difference in the diarrhea rate after 7 E-mail：lihuiying@etyy.cn days of treatment between the zinc group and the control group： in zinc ＜20 mg group[OR＝1.28，95%CI （0.96，1.70），P＝0.09]， in zinc 20 mg group [OR＝0.40， 95%CI （0.15，1.01），P＝ 0.05]， in constant dose group [OR＝0.64， 95%CI （0.28， 1.44）， P＝0.28]. In terms of vomiting rate， in zinc ＜20 mg group， the vomiting rate of zinc group was significantly higher than that of the control group [OR＝2.13， 95%CI （1.68， 2.70）， P＜0.001]； in constant dose group， vomiting rate of zinc group was significantly higher than that of the control group [OR＝1.84， 95%CI （1.44， 2.34）， P＜0.001]. CONCLUSIONS Zinc can significantly shorten the duration of diarrhea in children（6 months and above）， but low doses can increase the risk of vomiting， which should be taken attention in clinical.