1. Continuous data unsuitable for inclusion in meta‐analyses.

Outcome	PEG		NGT		P value	Mean difference (95% CI)
		n		n
mean albumin (at 3 months) (Yata 2001 abstract)	3.6	42	3.2	40	< 0.01
mean albumin (at 6 months) (Yata 2001 abstract)	3.9	42	3.1	40	< 0.01
mean haemoglobin (at 3 months) (Yata 2001 abstract)	11.9	42	11.7	40	no significant difference
mean haemoglobin (at 6 months) (Yata 2001 abstract)	12.4	42	11.1	40	no significant difference
median length of stay (days) (Dennis 2005)	34.0 (IQR 17 to 66)	162	37.0 (IQR 17 to 76)	159	not reported
utility mean difference between comparison groups (endpoint) Derived from EuroQol between comparison groups (endpoint) favouring NGT group, no statistically significant difference (Dennis 2005)					0.12	0.035 (‐0.024 to 0.093)
median patient overall quality of life at first week (endpoint) (Corry 2008)	4.0 (R 2.0 to 7.0)	15	4.0 (R 2.0 to 7.0)	18	0.89
anthropometric parameters (endpoint medians) (Hamidon 2006)		8		10
median TSFT (mm)	20.1 (R 9.6 to 34)		12.7 (R 9.8 to 32)		0.076
median BSFT (mm)	0.3 (R 4.8 to 13)		7.4 (R 4.4 to 15)		0.533
median MAC (cm)	31.4 (R 22 to 36)		27.8 (R 21 to 37)		0.182
median serum albumin (g/L)	39.5 (R 36 to 44)		36.0 (R 31 to 45)		0.045
median change in gastro‐oesophageal reflux (%, endpoint) on day 7 (Douzinas 2006)	2.7 (R 0 to 10.4)		10.8 (R 6.3 to 36.6)		< 0.01
anthropometric parameters (endpoint medians) (6 weeks)Corry 2008
upper‐arm circumference (mm) at endpoint	302.5 (R 270 to 370)	15	300.0 (R 240 to 352)	18	0.69	Mean values stated in text (Page 506) to be 295 vs. 283 mm P = 0.25
median TSFT (mm)	13 (R 10 to 20)	15	12 (R 10 to 23)	18	0.65	The NGT patients had significantly lower triceps skin fold thickness (9.5 vs 13.5 mm; P = 0.03) than the PEG patients at 6 weeks post‐treatment.

BSTF: biceps skin fold thickness
 CI: confidence interval
 IQR: interquartile range
 MAC: mid‐arm circumference
 R: range
 TSFT: triceps skin fold thickness