Khatami 2008

Methods	Randomised controlled trial Study location: Newborn Services at Ghaem Medical Center, Tehran, Iran Study period: 6 months from May 2003
Participants	Population: 40 preterm infants with BW > 1000 grams but < 1750 grams and GA > 28 weeks but < 34 weeks, who were between 48 and 96 hours old at the time of study entry
Interventions	EPO group received 500 IU/kg/d of EPO SC twice weekly (1000 IU/kg/week, high dose) and iron (ferrous sulphate) 3 mg/kg/d enterally (low dose). Control infants received iron (ferrous sulphate) 3 mg/kg/d enterally (low dose) at second week of life. Parenteral iron was not administered throughout the study.
Outcomes	Number of red blood cell transfusions per patient Weight gain Hospital stay
Notes	"Guidelines for red‐cell transfusions were based on the relatively strict existing policy in the nursery which was used to administer transfusions during the study period".
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information provided
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Numbered sealed envelopes
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	No placebo was used. Personnel were aware of group assignments.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	No placebo was used. Outcome assessors were aware of group assignments.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Complete follow‐up: yes. 18 infants were excluded owing to parents' refusal and unavailability.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	The protocol for the study was not available to us; therefore we cannot ascertain whether deviations from the protocol occurred.
Other bias	Low risk	Appears free of other bias