A randomized, controlled clinical trial of four anti-dandruff shampoos.

A total of 199 patients were selected for a comparison of the anti-dandruff efficacy of four shampoos. After a 2-week lead in (all patients used only Johnson's Baby Shampoo twice weekly) the patients were randomly assigned to Selsun Blue, Head & Shoulders, Flex, or Tegrin. The test preparation, which was unknown to the observer, was used twice weekly for 4 weeks. Loose and adherent dandruff were each rated on a scale of 0 to 20 (absent to severe) at the end of the lead-in (when a total score of 15 was required), and each week of study. The mean total pre-study score for all subjects was 19.5. At the end of the study the mean improvement scores were: 16.2 (Selsun Blue), 14.6 (head & Shoulders), 13.5 (Flex), and 13.1 (Tegrin). The improvement was significantly greater (p less than 0.05) on Selsun Blue than on any of the other shampoo. At the end of the study significantly (p less than 0.05) more patients had total scores of zero on Selsun Blue (15) than on Tegrin or Head & Shoulders. In addition, the rate of improvement was significantly (p less than 0.05) faster with Selsun Blue than with any of the other test preparations.