Pulliainen 1994

Methods	Single‐centre, randomised, parallel‐group trial of participants, referrals to the outpatient department of neurology of the Central Hospital of Paijat‐Hame, Finland. 2 treatment arms: CBZ and PHT
Participants	Adults (eligible age range 15‐57) with newly diagnosed epilepsy Number randomised: PHT = 20, CBZ = 23 20 male participants (47%) 10 participants with partial epilepsy (23%) Mean age (SD) years: PHT = 31.5 (11.3), CBZ = 26.8 (13.2)
Interventions	Monotherapy with PHT or CBZ Dose information not reported Trial duration: 6 months, range of follow‐up not stated
Outcomes	Cognitive assessments (visual motor speed, co‐ordination, attention and concentration, verbal and visuospatial learning, visual and recognition memory, reasoning, mood, handedness) Harmful side effects
Notes	59 participants were randomised but 16 were subsequently excluded. Results were presented only for the 43 participants who completed the entire trial. Outcomes chosen for this review were not reported. IPD not available
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Participants were randomly assigned to treatment groups, method of randomisation not stated
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information provided
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No information provided
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Cognitive outcome assessor was blinded
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	High risk	16/59 (27%) of participants excluded from analysis. Results presented only for participants who completed the trial
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Cognitive outcomes described in methods section well reported in results section. Adverse effects reported, no seizure outcomes 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