Fillinger 2008 TZA

Methods	Trial design: Controlled before‐and‐after trial Type of cluster: Area of city (ward) Cluster size: 0.96 to 15km2 Number of clusters in each arm: Intervention arm: three; control arm: 12 Adjusted for clustering?  No
Participants	Age: n/a Sex: n/a Co‐morbidities and pregnancy: n/a Primary outcome sample size (EIR): 67 sentinel sites
Interventions	Intervention: Larviciding alone Details of the intervention:                               Larviciding: Open (light‐exposed) larval habitats were treated with Bti water‐dispersible granules (VectoBac®, applied at 0.04g/m2 using knapsack sprayers), Bs water‐dispersible granules (VectoLex®, applied at 0.2g/m2 using knapsack sprayers), Bti corn granule formulations (VectoBac®, applied at 1g/m2 by hand) and Bs corn granule formulations (VectoLex®, applied at 3g/m2 by hand). Closed habitats (the main larval habitat of Culex quinquefaciatus, a nuisance‐biting mosquito) were treated with Bs corn cob granules (VectoLex®, applied at 1g/m2 by hand). Frequency of application: Larviciding of open habitats: weekly; closed habitats: every three months. Duration of intervention period: 15 months Who was responsible for LSM? Open habitats were treated by modestly paid members of the community, Mosquito Contro CORPs, each of which was assigned to a specific area (mtaa). An additional team of CORPs was responsible for treating closed habitats. CORPs reported to the Ward Office. Co‐interventions: None. However ITNs were used in the study area (coverage not stated). Co‐interventions equal in each arm? Not stated
Outcomes	1. EIR (measured with weekly CDC light trap catches and pyrethrum spray catches) 2. Adult mosquito density (human biting rate) (measured with weekly CDC light trap catches and pyrethrum spray catches)
Notes	Continent: Africa Country: Tanzania Ecosystem: Coastal Urban or rural: Urban Extensive or localized larval habitats: Localized Primary larval habitats: Man‐made habitats exposed to sunlight Transmission intensity: Low to moderate Transmission season(s): March to June (primary), October to December (secondary) Primary and secondary vector:An. gambiae s.s., An. arabiensis Primary malaria parasite:P. falciparum Source of funding: Swiss Tropical Institute, the United States Agency for International Development (Environmental Health Project, Dar es Salaam Mission and the United States President's Malaria Initiative), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Valent BioSciences Corporation, Wellcome Trust.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	High risk	Not randomly chosen.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	High risk	Not randomly chosen.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Impossible to blind entomologic data collection.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Impossible to blind implementers to intervention.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Individual patients not followed up therefore not possible to measure percentage loss to follow‐up.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Complete outcome reporting.
Baseline characteristics	Low risk	Baseline mosquito densities reported.
Contamination	High risk	Control and intervention clusters are adjacent.
Incorrect analysis	Unclear risk	Cluster adjustment not applicable.
Other bias	High risk	High risk of confounding.