Feksi 1991

Methods	Randomised, parallel‐group trial conducted among residents of the Nakuru district, a semi‐urban population of rural Kenya 2 treatment arms: CBZ and PHB
Participants	Participants had a history of generalised tonic‐clonic seizures and at least 2 generalised tonic‐clonic seizures within the preceding year (with or without other seizure types) and untreated in the 3 months prior to the trial. 79 (26%) participants had been treated in the past with AEDs Number randomised: PHB = 150, CBZ = 152 173 male participants (57%) 115 of participants with partial epilepsy (38%) Mean age (range): 21 (6‐65 years)
Interventions	Monotherapy with CBZ or PHB Starting doses: PHB: 6‐10 years: 30 mg/d, 11‐15 years: 45 mg/d, > 16 years: 60 mg/d CBZ: 6‐10 years of age: 400 mg/d, 11‐15 years of age: 500 mg/d, > 16 years of age: 600 mg/d Dose achieved not stated Range of follow‐up: participants followed up for up to 1 year
Outcomes	Adverse effects Withdrawals from allocated treatment Seizure frequency (during second 6 months of trial)
Notes	IPD were made available but not used because of inconsistencies and problems with the data provided (see Included studies for further details)
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Participants randomised with random number list
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Allocation concealed via sealed, opaque envelopes (information provided by trial author)
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No information provided
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No information provided
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	Attrition rates reported, results presented only for participants completing 12 months' follow‐up (results not presented for 53 (17.5%) participants out of 302 who withdrew from treatment), approach is not ITT
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No protocol available, outcomes chosen for this review not reported. Seizure outcomes and adverse events well reported
Other bias	High risk	Inconsistencies with IPD and published results so IPD could not be used (see Included studies for further details)