Study	Reason for exclusion
Bird 1966	It was unclear whether this trial was randomised and whether participants received either CBZ or PB as monotherapy.
Castro‐Gago 1998	The trial was not randomised, and the treatment choice was made based on types of seizures.
Cereghino 1973	This was a preliminary analysis of Cereghino 1974.
Hansen 1980	The trial was not randomised; participants were already on CBZ or PB monotherapy upon entry into the study.
Kuzuya 1993	The trial was not randomised; participants were already on CBZ or PB monotherapy upon entry into the study.
Marjerrison 1968	CBZ or PB therapy were added to current treatment. We could not make a comparison between CBZ monotherapy and PB monotherapy.
Meador 1990	We could not make a comparison between CBZ monotherapy and PB monotherapy. This was a cross‐over trial, but some participants were receiving treatment at the start of the first period, which had to be withdrawn slowly.
Sabers 1995	The trial was not fully randomised: "The treatment was chosen at random unless the individual diagnoses required a specific drug."
Smith 1987	This reported the same trial as Mattson 1985, and Mattson 1985 gave more relevant information.

CBZ: carbamazepine PB: phenobarbitone