| Methods |
RCT. Randomisation was by a computer‐generated table of random numbers.
Blinding: women blinded to allocation through use of a placebo.
Losses to follow up: of the 203 women entered in the study, 3 were lost to follow‐up (1.5%). |
| Participants |
203 women who met the following inclusion criteria: admitted to the labour and delivery suite between December 1990 and June 1995 with the diagnosis of preterm labour (regular uterine contractions and documented cervical change). Women had been successfully treated with parenteral tocolysis.
Exclusion criteria: chorioamnionitis; vaginal bleeding suggesting abruptio placentae; medical history contraindicating use of terbutaline; premature rupture of membranes; maternal or fetal indication for delivery. |
| Interventions |
Following successful parenteral tocolysis, women were randomly assigned to terbutaline (5 mg 5 times per day) or placebo. Terbutaline = 25 mg/day. |
| Outcomes |
Perinatal death, respiratory distress syndrome, intraventricular haemorrhage, mean birthweight, birth within 48 hours, birth within 1 week. |
| Notes |
3 twin pregnancies in each of the terbutaline and placebo groups. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) |
Low risk |
Computer‐generated random number table. |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) |
Unclear risk |
Not stated. |
| Blinding (performance bias and detection bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Women were blinded through the use of a placebo. |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias)
All outcomes |
Low risk |
1.5% loss to follow‐up. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) |
Unclear risk |
Unable to assess. |
| Other bias |
Low risk |
|
