Engst 1994

Methods	RCT, active‐controlled, open‐label trial Date of study: not stated Location: not stated
Participants	Randomised: 22 participants (mean age 45.9 years, 18 male) Inclusion criteria Participants with moderate‐severe psoriasis (PASI > 16) Exclusion criteria Pregnancy, kidney insufficiency, liver insufficiency, Had an active infection Had uncontrolled cardiovascular disorder Had past history of malignant tumours Dropouts and withdrawals Not stated
Interventions	Intervention A. Ciclosporin A (n = 10), orally, 1.25 mg/kg/d (increase to 2.5 if PASI > 50% of initial PASI), 12 months Control intervention B. Ciclosporin A, (n = 12), orally, 2.5 mg/kg/d (increase to 5 if PASI > 50% of initial PASI), 12 months
Outcomes	Assessment period: not stated but longer than 16 weeks Primary or secondary outcomes of the trial: not stated Outcomes of the trial PASI score Blood pressure Blood count Urine samples
Notes	Funding: not stated Declarations of interest: not stated
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote (p 189): "Patients enrolled in the study were randomised..." Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee random sequence generation
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote (p 189): "Patients enrolled in the study were randomised..." Comment: no description of the method used to guarantee allocation concealment
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Comment: not blinded (open‐label)
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Comment: not blinded (open‐label)
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Dropouts and withdrawals Not stated Management of missing data: no description of the method used to guarantee management of missing data, ITT analyses not mentioned
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	High risk	Comment: no protocol was available. The pre‐specified outcomes mentioned in the methods section were not reported in results section