Albert 2003.
Methods | Factorial design, individually‐randomized trial conducted in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh | |
Participants |
Eligibility: children aged 2‐5 years of either sex, vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol level < 20 mg/dL; and nutritional status corresponding to a weight‐for‐age score that was 61% of the median National Center for Health Standards standard were included. Children who had received vitamin A supplementation during the preceding 6 months or who had a history of night blindness or sickness due to underlying illnesses such as diarrhoea or respiratory tract infections were excluded. Sample: 256 children |
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Interventions | 4 groups:
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Outcomes | Vibriocidal antibody response to cholera vaccine | |
Notes | No clinical outcomes were available so no data were included in meta‐analysis | |
Risk of bias | ||
Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low risk |
Quote: "Bottles of syrup were serially numbered according to the randomizations list" Comment: most likely done |
Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Low risk | Quote: "The randomizations code was broken after completion of the study" |
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Blinding of Participants | Low risk | Quote: "The zinc syrup and its placebo syrup looked very similar, as did the vitamin A syrup and its placebo syrup." |
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Blinding of provider | Low risk | Quote: "The randomization code was broken after completion of the study" |
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Blinding of outcome assessor | Low risk | Quote: "The randomization code was broken after completion of the study" |
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) | Low risk | Comment: minimal attrition |
Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Unclear risk | Comment: no trial registration number was available |
Other bias | Low risk | Comment: this study seems to be free of other bias |