One could say that the cost of VapoRub is not an important factor, but given how easy it would be to note the price of VapoRub, especially for the amount used in the study, we think the story should have included it. The story does not tell readers how much of a difference there was between the treatment groups. The parents did report improvements, but readers can’t tell from this story just how much. The story would have been better if it pointed out that the parents were asked to rate symptoms on a seven-point scale. For instance, the effect on sleep ranged from 1 or “not at all much” to 7 or “very much” and the VapoRub on average nudged the symptoms just one point more than the petroleum jelly. What does it mean to feel one point better on this scale? The vague description of the relative improvement might lead readers to believe the differences were dramatic. The story reports that almost half of the children who were treated with VapoRub reported side effects including skin irritation or a burning sensation, while none of the children in the other groups reported any side effects. The story briefly describes that the trial had three arms (VapoRub, petroleum jelly, no treatment) and that parents told investigators about their children’s symptoms. But the story failed to report key aspects of the experiment that raise questions about its conclusions.Although parents were instructed to put VapoRub on their upper lips before opening the treatment container (that had VapoRub or petroleum jelly for their child) in order to attempt to mask the treatment, the researchers wrote that the masking effort largely failed. Almost 9 out of 10 parents were able to correctly guess whether their child was treated with VapoRub or petroleum jelly, so the parents’ beliefs about which treatment would be more effective could have influenced their survey responses. For unexplained (and unreported) reasons, the children who got petroleum jelly rubs took more acetaminophen pain reliever, which could suggest that there was some difference in their illnesses. While the story reports that there were differences in responses about sleep, the story does not tell readers that this single question accounted for most of the difference between the treatment groups, indicating that VapoRub may not be superior. The story also does not address the definition of “improvement” used in the statistical analysis, which may be sliced so fine as to be virtually meangingless. The story accurately describes the children in the study as having “symptoms like cough, congestion, runny nose and restless sleep that lasted seven days or more.” The story does include a comment from an independent pediatrician, and the story notes that she works for CNN. It also points out that funding for the trial came from the company that sells VapoRub and that the lead researcher is an advisor to the company. The story points out that there have been growing concerns about other over-the-counter cold remedies for children. It also reports that the children who were not given any treatment also felt better the next day. The availability of VapoRub is well known. Although, there’s nothing new about VapoRub, the story does point out that the product claims have not been tested in this way before. The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
Topical rub eases kids’ cold symptoms, study says