Xylitol for the prevention of acute otitis media episodes in children aged 1-5 years: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Objective To investigate the regular use of xylitol, compared with sorbitol, to prevent acute otitis media (AOM), upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and dental caries. Design Blinded randomised controlled trial with a 6-month study period. Setting Enrolment took place at 11 primary care practices in Ontario, Canada. Patients Children aged 1-5 years who did not use xylitol or sorbitol at enrolment. Interventions Children were randomly assigned to use a placebo syrup with sorbitol or xylitol syrup two times per day for 6 months. Main outcome measures Primary outcome was the number of clinician-diagnosed AOM episodes over 6 months. Secondary outcomes were caregiver-reported URTIs and dental caries. Results Among the 250 randomised children, the mean (SD) age was 38±14 months and there were 124 girls (50%). There were three clinician-diagnosed AOM episodes in the 125 placebo group participants and six in the 125 xylitol group participants (OR 2.04; 95% CI 0.43, 12.92; p=0.50). There was no difference in number of caregiver-reported URTI episodes (rate ratio (RR) 0.88; 95% CI 0.70, 1.11) between the placebo (4.2 per participant over 6 months; 95% CI 3.6, 5.0) and xylitol (3.7; 95% CI 3.2, 4.4) groups. Dental caries were reported for four participants in the placebo group and two in the xylitol group (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.04, 3.05; p=0.42). In a post-hoc analysis of URTIs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate among the 59 participants receiving placebo was 2.3 per participant over 6 months (95% CI 1.8, 3.0) and for the 55 receiving xylitol, 1.3 over 6 months (95% CI 0.92, 1.82; RR 0.56; 95% CI 0.36, 0.87). The most common adverse event was diarrhoea (28% with placebo; 34% with xylitol). Conclusions Regular use of xylitol did not prevent AOM, URTIs or dental caries in a trial with limited statistical power. A post-hoc analysis indicated that URTIs were less common with xylitol exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this finding could be spurious. Trial registration number NCT03055091.