Luo 2014.

Methods	Design: RCT Number of study centres: single centre Setting: inpatient and outpatient Patient recruitment: July 2010 and December 2011 Duration of study (Follow‐up): 12months Clinical setting: hypercholesterolaemia
Participants	Enrolment (N): 84 Randomised (N): intervention: 40; control:44 Withdrawn (N): not reported Lost to follow‐up (N): not reported Completed the study (N): not reported Analysed (N): intervention: 40; control:44 Age (years) (mean ± SD): intervention: 67.2 ± 6.4; control: 66.3 ± 5.8 Sex (male, N, %): intervention: 22 (55%); control: 22 (50%) Smoking history (N, %): not reported BMI (kg/m², mean ± SD):): intervention: 24.4 ± 4.6; control: 24.7 ± 4.4 Diabetes (N, %): intervention: 12 ; control: 16 Hypertension (N, %): not reported History of CHD (N, %): intervention: 36; control: 34 Statin pretreatment (N, %): not reported Inclusion criteria: elderly hypercholesterolaemic patients who still had abnormal LDL‐C levels (≤ 2 .6 mM) after undergoing lipid‐lowering therapy for three months. Exclusion criteria: patients with hypertension, blood diseases, hepatorenal dysfunction, severe infectious disease and heart failure were excluded.
Interventions	Intervention: atorvastatin 20 mg/night in combination with ezetimibe10 mg/day Comparison: atorvastatin 20 mg/night Details of any 'run‐in' period: not reported Concomitant medications: not reported Excluded medications: not reported
Outcomes	Blood lipid level and high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hsCRP). Carotid intima‐media thickness, carotid plaque Crouse integral, Carotid diameter Cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death) and adverse reactions.
Notes	Funding: not reported
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Quote: "randomised" but no further details
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No protocol published, or trials registry record found.
Other bias	Unclear risk	Insufficient information to assess whether an important risk of bias exists