A topic in Clinical Evidence summarizes the results of three RCTs. The first RCT (n=40) found that there was no statistically significant difference in persistent symptoms between women treated with itraconazole whose partner was treated with oral itraconazole 100 mg daily for 5 days compared with placebo (11% vs 22%, OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.08 to 2.43). The second RCT (n=117) found that there was no difference in the proportion of women cured 1 week after treatment with ketoconazole whose partner was treated with ketoconazole 400 mg daily or placebo for 3 days (84% vs 88%, OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.25 to 2.02) or in the proportion of women who relapsed by 4 weeks (27% with ketoconazole vs 36% with placebo, OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.54). The third RCT (n=42) found that there was no significant difference in symptoms at 8 days (6% vs 12%) or symptomatic relapses at 39 days (37% vs 35%) between women treated with topical natamycin whose partner was treated with topical natamycin for 10 days compared with placebo.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by imprecise data (limited study size for each comparison).