2. Definitions of outcome measures used in the review.

Trial	Death	Neurological sequelae at discharge	Coma recovery time	Time to discharge	Fever clearance time	Parasite clearance time	Hypoglycaemia	Adverse effects
Anh 1989	Death	Not reported	Mean value (h) reported but not defined	Not reported	Not reported	Mean value (h) reported but not defined. Parasite counts every 8 h until 2 consecutive slides were negative and then every 24 h	Not reported	Not reported
Anh 1995	Death	Not reported	Mean value (h). Defined as time until consciousness regained. Glasgow Coma Scale measured every 12 h until regained consciousness	Not reported	Mean value (h) reported but not defined. Axillary temperature was recorded every 6 h until 4 consecutive temperatures were < 37.5 °C	Mean value (h) reported but not defined. Parasite count measured every 6 h until 3 consecutive blood smears were negative	Not reported	Not reported
Cao 1997	Death	Number survived with neurological sequelae. Case definition for neurological sequelae: abnormal neurological signs and/or symptoms at time of discharge from hospital that were not present before onset of the episode of malaria as reported by the child's parents. All children had a full neurological examination on admission and at discharge from hospital (personal communication from author)	Median value (h) reported. Defined as time (h) for Blantyre Coma Score to become 5/5. Coma score assessed every 4 h (or more frequently if critically ill) for the first 24 h, and then every 6 h until discharge	Median value (d) reported	Median value (h) reported. Defined as time until temperature first dropped to 37.5 °C or below and remained below this level for at least 24 h. Axillary temperature measured every 4 h (or more frequently if critically ill) for the first 24 h, and then every 6 h until discharge	Median value (h) reported but not defined. Parasite count measured every 4 h (or more frequently if critically ill) for the first 24 h, and then every 6 h until discharge. Once 2 successive peripheral blood films had revealed no P. falciparum, no further blood film was made unless indicated clinically	Blood glucose < 2.2 mmol/L. Blood glucose measured every 4 h for first 24 h and then every 6 h until discharge from hospital if indicated (coma, prostration, jaundice, or > 1 complication ‐ personal communication from author)	Acute renal failure requiring dialysis, shock, convulsions, deterioration of coma score, gastrointestinal bleeding, anaemia requiring blood transfusion, chest infection, urinary tract infection, other infections, derangement of biochemical markers
Dondorp 2005	Death	Neurological sequelae at discharge from hospital	Not reported	Median value (d) reported	Not reported	Not reported	Blood glucose < 2.2 mmol/L. Blood glucose checked in all patients on admission and then monitored on clinical indication	Not reported
Dondorp 2010	Death	Severe neurological complications (initially assessed at discharge from hospital but the protocol was changed after 11% of patients had been enrolled, so that children who had not fully recovered at discharge were assessed 28 days after enrollment).	Not reported	Median value (d) reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
Eltahir 2010	Death	Not reported	Mean value measured from administration of first antimalarial until the Glasgow coma score reached 15. Vital signs and coma scale were monitored every 15 mins for the first hour, then every 2 hours until 24 ours then every 6 hours.	Not reported	Mean value measured from administration of first antimalarial until the axillary temp first dropped below 37.5 and remained below for 24 hours	Mean value measured from administration of the first antimalarial until the first of two sequential negative blood films. Blood films were taken every 4 hours.	Blood glucose levels were measured every 6 hours.	Not reported
Hien 1992	Death	Not reported	Mean, median, and mode values reported in hours. Defined as time to regain full consciousness (Glasgow Coma Scale of 15/15). Glasgow Coma Scale measured at 3‐h intervals until full recovery of consciousness, and at 6‐h intervals thereafter	Not reported	Mean value (h) reported. Defined as time (h) until "fever clearance". The axillary temperature was measured at 3‐h intervals until "fever clearance", and at 6‐h intervals thereafter	Mean value (h) reported but not defined. Parasite counts performed every 4 h for 12 h, then every 6 h until 3 consecutive films were negative	Not reported	None reported
Newton 2003	Death	Not reported	Median value (h) reported. Defined as time to reach a Glasgow Coma Scale of 15 in those participants with a score < 11/15 on admission. Glasgow Coma Scale measured every 15 min for first h, at 2 h, and then every 2 h until 12 h, every 4 h from 12 to 24 h, and every 6 h from 24 h until the score reached 15	Not reported	Median value (h) reported. Defined as time until the axillary temperature first dropped below 37.5 °C and remained below that level for 24 h. Axillary temperature measured every 15 min for the first h, at 2 h, and then every 2 h until 12 h, every 4 h from 12 to 24 h, and every 6 h from 24 h until fever cleared	Median value (h) reported. Defined as time to a 50% reduction in parasite density. Parasite counts were measured at 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, and 24 h, and then every 6 h until 6 h after parasite clearance	Plasma glucose less than or equal to 2.2 mmol/L. Plasma glucose measured at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, and 24 h and then every 6 h	Seizures, bleeding and sepsis after admission, pulmonary oedema, oliguria, time in intensive care unit