Jamshaid 2022.

Study characteristics
Methods	Study design Parallel RCT Time frame: 1 November 2019 to 31 October 2020 Duration of study: follow‐up 12 months Country: Pakistan Setting: single tertiary centre
Participants	Study characteristics Inclusion criteria: children with initial episode of SSNS Exclusion criteria: Relapse of SSNS; steroid‐resistant patients; poor compliance; congenital and secondary nephrotic syndrome Baseline characteristics Number: intervention group 1 (75); intervention group 2 (75) Mean age, mean ± SD (years): intervention group 1 (4.45 ± 1.68); intervention group 2 (4.2 ± 1.68) Sex (M/F): intervention group 1 (35/40); intervention group 2 (23/52)
Interventions	Intervention group 1 Prednisone: 2 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks (maximum dose: 60mg) followed by 1.5 mg/kg/day on alternate days for 8 weeks (maximum dose 40 mg) Total duration: 12 weeks Intervention group 2 Prednisone: 2 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks (maximum dose: 60 mg), 1.5 mg/kg/day every other day for 4 weeks, followed by 5 mg decrements every 2 weeks and then discontinued gradually Total duration: 16 to 24 weeks Co‐interventions None reported
Outcomes	Outcomes relevant to this review Number with one or more relapses Relapse rate/year
Notes	Additional information Remission: absence of oedema with urine protein ≤ 1+ on dipstick, UPCR ≤ 20 mg/mmol or ≤ 4 mg/m2/hour for 3 consecutive days Relapse: presence of oedema with urine protein ≥ 3+ on dipstick for 3 consecutive days
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	QUOTE: “These children were allocated into short‐ and long‐term therapy groups, randomly”
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	QUOTE: “These children were allocated into short‐ and long‐term therapy groups, randomly”
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	No blinding
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	No blinding of outcome assessment
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	All reported participants accounted for but unclear whether the study reported on all participants included
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	High risk	Incomplete reporting on relapse rates and no report of adverse effects
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear what this statement in report means "This Quasi‐experimental study was conducted in the Department of Paediatric Nephrology at the Children’s Hospital Lahore"