Ivermectin for onchocercal eye disease (river blindness) (Review)

Dadzie 1989 (Continued)
Blinding?
All outcomes
Incomplete outcome data addressed?
All outcomes
Unclear See above for allocation concealment whcih
would also suggest that blinding was adequate.
However, ”The code of the study was
broken after the month 6 review“ Dadzie
et al, page 356. The significance of this for
subsequent examinations (at 12 months) is
unclear.
Unclear ”Only 154 of the 198 patients who were
ophthalmologically examined on all occasions
were considered in the analysis of the
results.
Free of selective reporting? Unclear See Table 3
Taylor 1988
Methods Method of allocation: Individual randomisation using computer generated random numbers.
Drug administered in coded packages.
Masking: provider, participants and outcome assessors masked.
Participants Country: Grand Bassa County - Liberia.
Type of river blindness: forest type.
Number randomised: 200.
Age: 12 to 60 years.
Sex: male and female.
Inclusion criteria: heavy skin microfilarial count greater than 15 microfilariae/mg skin.
Exclusion criteria: pregnant and lactating women; people who had received anti-filaricidal
drug within 1 year.
Interventions Treatment: single dose ivermectin tablets taken orally and given annually.
Dose: 100 ug/kg or 150 ug/kg or 200 ug/kg.
Control: placebo tablet given as single dose.
Duration of follow up: 1 year.
Outcomes Visual acuity; Visual field; Skin, cornea, anterior chamber microfilarial count (geometric
mean)**; Punctate opacity load (geometric mean)**; Ocular reaction index; Sclerosing
keratitis; Anterior uveitis; Retinal pigment epithelial atrophy; Optic nerve changes.
Notes Number analysed in treatment groups not reported, therefore number randomised to
treatment groups used for analyses.
Risk of bias
Item Authors’ judgement Description
Ivermectin for onchocercal eye disease (river blindness) (Review)
Copyright © 2009 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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