Usman Attique, Muhammad Tariq Khan, Irfan Aslam, Ahmed Usman Khalid.
Efficacy of olopatadine hydrochloride (0.1%) versus ketotifen fumarate (0.025%) ophthalmic solution in relieving itching in allergic conjunctivitis in population of Peshawar, Pakistan.
Gomal J Med Sci Jan ;20(4):203-7.

Background: Allergic conjunctivitis is a common hypersensitivity disorder that is prevalent globally. The objective of this trial was to compare the efficacy of Olopatadine versus Ketotifen ophthalmic solution in relieving itching in allergic conjunctivitis in population of Peshawar, Pakistan. Materials & Methods: This RCT was conducted at Department of Ophthalmology, Khyber Girls Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan from March 01, 2022 to June 30, 2022. One-eighty-six patients with allergic conjunctivitis with itching score of 2-3 and aged 5-65 years were randomly allocated to two groups; 93 to experimental/Olopatadine and 93 to control/Ketotifen group. Itching was graded as; no itching zero, mild itching 1, moderate itching 2 and severe itching 3. Pre-treatment itching score was measured. Experimental group used Olopatadine Hydrochloride 0.1% b.i.d., while control group used Ketotifen Fumarate 0.025% q.id., both for six-weeks. Post-treatment presence of itching was measured as 0-1 as itching relieved and 2-3 as not relieved. Sex, age groups, pre-treatment itching score and presence of itching were described by count and percentage. Hypothesis was verified using McNemar chi-square test. Results: Experimental/Olopatadine group included 58 (62.37%) men and 35 (37.63%) women, while control/Ketotifen group included 55 (59.14%) men and 38 (40.86%) women. There were 78 (83.87%) patients in age group 5-35 years and 15 (16.13%) in age group 36-65 years in each group. Pre-treatment itching score was 2 in 40 (43.02%) and 3 in 53 (56.98%) patients in experimental group, and 2 in 42 (45.16%) and 3 in 51 (54.84%) patients in control group. Itching was relieved in 77 (82.80%) in experimental/Olopatadine group, and in 67 (72.04%) patients in control/Ketotifen group. Experimental/Olopatadine showed statistically significantly higher efficacy than control/Ketotifen (p-value .0139). Conclusion: The efficacy of Olopatadine Hydrochloride 0.1% b.i.d. was higher than Ketotifen Fumerate 0.025% ophthalmic solution q.i.d. in terms of itching relief in allergic conjunctivitis.

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