Coughs are very common at this time of year, but people may be wasting their money on cough medications that have little or no effect, a new Irish study has found.

According to the findings, many cough remedies that are available over the counter (OTC) in pharmacies have limited effectiveness when it comes to short-term coughs in children and adults.

The study was carried out by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and it focused on remedies for short-term (acute) coughs. These are commonly found in people suffering with an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) that is caused by a cold.

Doctors and pharmacists often recommend OTC remedies or people seek out these medications at their pharmacy.

The researchers studied data from 29 trials involving almost 5,000 children and adults with acute coughs. The effectiveness of various types of OTC remedies at different doses were compared with a placebo.

Most of the trials involving adult medications found that they offered no benefit or the results were varied. Most of the trials involving child medications found them to be no more effective than placebo.

A small number of trials found some benefits related to the use of mucolytics in both children and adults. Mucolytics are medicines that make the mucus (sputum) that is made in your lungs less sticky and thick and therefore easier to cough up.

One trial in children also found that over a three-day period, natural honey was more effective than placebo.

Meanwhile 19 of the studies reported frequent side-effects related to these medications, such as drowsiness, nausea and vomiting.

"There is a high prevalence of coughs and colds at this time of year and patients often buy OTC medications to alleviate their symptoms. However, our study has found little evidence to support expenditure on these medications for coughs and some of these medicines can occasionally result in adverse side-effects," explained the study's lead author, Prof Susan Smith, of the RCSI.

She noted that ‘simple remedies', such as lemon and honey can provide relief to patients at a lower cost than OTC medications.

"However, parents should note that honey should not be given to children under the age of one. We recommend that patients talk to their pharmacist or GP for advice on low-cost safe treatments for coughs that can be prepared at home," she said.

Commenting on the findings, Graham Love, chief executive of the Health Research Board, said that studies like this ‘help people and doctors to make sound, evidence-based decisions about healthcare choices'.

Details of these findings are published in The Cochrane Library.