Lovik 1996.

Methods	Randomised controlled trial. Duration 6 weeks.
Participants	Adults (n = 52, men and women, age range 34 ‐ 86 years) who had received radiotherapy for cancers of head and neck. Nutritional status at study entry unclear, 10% reported weight loss and BMI ranged from 18 ‐ 37kg/m2. 3 deaths (group not reported).
Interventions	Intensive dietary instruction from a dietitian including advice to use nutritional supplements if required (n = 28) versus a standard information sheet providing information on all aspects of treatment and including advice to eat a nutritious diet (n = 24).
Outcomes	Body weight*, BMI*, TSF*, MAMC*, MUAC, energy intake*, survival*, serum chemistry, albumin and transferrin.
Notes	Additional data and information on quality obtained from authors.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Details from author, sequence generation using a random number list.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Sequentially numbered sealed opaque envelopes.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Clinical outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Functional outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) Nutritional outcomes	Unclear risk	Not stated.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	3 deaths all in the intervention arm.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All specified outcomes reported. Data on change in weight extracted from the paper, but clarification needed for mortality data. Data on TSF, MAMC presented as number of patients with values below 85% of the normal limit and so not included. Data on energy intake is expressed according to expected intake therefore not usable.
Other bias	Low risk	Baseline variables given, groups similar at baseline.