Maghsudlu 2008.

Methods	Design: randomised controlled trial Randomisation: individual Trial: oral iron three times a day versus placebo Date of study: not stated
Participants	Setting: Kermanshah and Golestan blood transfusion services, Iran Malaria endemicity: not stated Included: women attending blood donation. Age range not reported (mean age 28.7 years) Excluded: pregnancy, medical condition such as hereditary haemochromatosis chronic gastrointestinal disorder or intestinal cancer or polyps Dropouts: 207 out of 417 (50%) failed to return for follow‐up visit Sample size: total: 367, iron: 185, control: 182
Interventions	Intervention: 150 mg of ferrous sulphate three times a day Control: placebo Duration: 1 week
Outcomes	Haemoglobin, iron status, side effects
Notes	Compliance: 75.2% of tablets taken across all groups Conflicts of interest: not stated Funded by: Iranian blood transfusion organisation
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method not stated
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not stated
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Unclear if double blinded
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Unclear if double blinded. Side effects reported and may be influenced
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	50% dropout rate
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Not evident
Other bias	Low risk	No other source of bias identified