Evidence of the Efficacy of Different Regimens for Tinea Capitis| Treatment, level of evidence, cost (manufacturer, formulation, average wholesale price) | Evidence | Number of people in study | Results | Comments |
| Benzoic acid compound (Whitfield's ointment)SFTRETLevel of evidence: III | Investigator-blinded RCT (versus miconazole cream) (Wilmington, Aly, and Frieden 1996) | 41 | Mycological cure: 12/20 using benzoic acid compound and 10/19 using miconazole cream | |
| Cost: not found | Observational study (Hay and others 1996) | | Prevalence dropped from 7.8 percent to 5.8 percent (p < 0.05) | -
Prevalence study of dermatophyto-mycoses in rural schools -
After institution of treatment by 12 trained community health workers, only prevalence of tinea capitis dropped significantly
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GriseofulvinSFTRETLevel of evidence: IIISFTRETCost: -
Pedinol, tablets, 125 mg, US$63.00 for 100 tablets -
Martec, tablets, 125 mg, US$34.10 for 100 tablets
| Multicenter, single- blinded, RCT (versus terbinafine, itraconazole, and fluconazole) (Wright and Robertson 1986) | 200 | Effective treatment: 46/50 (92 percent) griseofulvin, 47/50 (94 percent) terbinafine, 43/50 (86 percent) itraconazole, 42/50 (84 percent) fluconazole (p = 0.33) | |
| Single-cohort retrospective analysis (Schmeller, Baumgartner, and Dzikus 1997) | 474 | 60.7 percent responded well; 39.3 percent returned less than eight months later; 10.7 percent had a recurrence later | |
| Multicenter, open-label, RCT (four weeks terbinafine versus eight weeks griseofulvin) (Gupta and others 2001) | 210 | No statistically significant differences (cure = 67 percent in both groups); however, graphical presentation of data demonstrates a slightly higher proportion of patients in terbinafine group achieved "cure" earlier | |
| Parallel-group, multi-center, double-blind RCT (versus terbinafine) (Abdel-Rahman, Nahata, and Powell 1997) | 134 | Terbinafine for six weeks had a similar efficacy to griseofulvin | -
Four oral terbinafine groups (6, 8, 10, or 12 weeks) compared with 12 weeks of griseofulvin -
ITT analysis performed -
Six weeks of terbinafine could represent an alternative to griseofulvin
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| Double-blind RCT (versus terbinafine) (Fuller and others 2001) | 50 | Week 8: 76 percent griseofulvin and 72 percent terbinafine (not statistically significant);SFTRETweek 12: 44 percent griseofulvin and 76 percent terbinafine (p < 0.05) | |
| Double-blind RCT (versus itraconazole) (Lipozencic and others 2002) | 35 | 88 percent itraconazole versus 88 percent griseofulvin | -
Tinea corporis and tinea capitis evaluated together -
Outcome measure: cure -
34 patients evaluable for efficacy; no ITT -
Two griseofulvin patients discontinued therapy because of vomiting -
Itraconazole has the same efficacy as griseofulvin and fewer side effects
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Source: Authors.
ITT = intention to treat; p = probability; RCT = randomized clinical trial.
