Frequency of dosing and comparative doses of mometasone furoate: a meta-analysis.

To examine the evidence for the efficacy of once daily dosing of mometasone furoate (MF) and to establish the dose-response relationship for MF in asthma. Meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trials, identified through a Medline and EMBASE search, comparing once versus twice daily dosing with the same dose and/or comparing two different doses that presented data on measurements of clinical efficacy. Main outcome measures were FEV(1) change from baseline, PEF, withdrawals for any reason and treatment failure as defined by the authors. Nine studies with 2533 subjects were identified, although not all had usable data for the different doses/schedules. There was no evidence of superiority of twice versus once daily dosing of MF with a pooled difference of 0.02 L (95% CI: -0.06-0.10) for FEV(1) change from baseline. 400 microg was superior to 200 microg with a pooled difference of 0.09 L (95% CI: 0.04-0.13) for FEV(1). Data on doses >400 microg/day were limited but did not support that 800 microg was superior to 400 microg. For the outcome variables considered, once daily dosing of MF is as effective as twice daily dosing, which may be useful in improving compliance in the treatment of asthma. There was insufficient data to compute a dose-response curve for MF.