Castriota 2008

Methods	Randomised, open‐label trial to evaluate event‐related potentials on the effect of CBZ and LEV cognitive functions, conducted in Italy 2 treatment arms, CBZ (controlled release) and LEV
Participants	Participants with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy Number randomised: CBZ = 14, LEV = 13 14 male participants (52%) 100% of participants had partial epilepsy Mean age (years): CBZ = 38, LEV = 42, range not stated
Interventions	Monotherapy with CBZ or LEV Fifteen‐day titration to CBZ = 800 mg/d and LEV = 100 mg/d Trial duration: 24 weeks (assessments at baseline and 12 weeks), range of follow‐up not stated
Outcomes	Event‐related potential recordings Neuropsychological assessments
Notes	The trial was published in Italian; the characteristics and outcomes were translated. Outcomes chosen for this review were not reported; IPD were not available
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	The trial was described as randomised ('randomizzazione' in Italian); no further information was available
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information provided
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Open‐label trial
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Open‐label trial
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Attrition rates reported (3 dropouts from the CBZ group, 11% of total participants). These participants are excluded from analysis; this is not an ITT approach
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Cognitive outcomes described in methods section well reported in results section. No seizure outcomes or adverse events reported and outcomes chosen for this review not reported. No protocol available so unclear if seizure outcomes were planned a priori
Other bias	Low risk	None identified