ERC 1960.

Methods	Randomized allocation Double blind allocation and asessment Sample size at entry: gold:99; placebo:100
Participants	Patients with active RA (definite or classical) Mean age ‐ 48.7 yrs Duration of disease ‐ 66% 1 to 3 yrs; 34% 3 to 5 yrs No previous treatment with gold
Interventions	Aurothiomalate ‐ 50 mg IM weekly Treatment duration ‐ 20wks
Outcomes	Outcomes reported at baseline and months 1, 3, 6, 12 and 18 Efficacy measures ‐ Physician's estimate of functional capacity; subjective estimate of fitness by patient, number of joints involved, grip strength, ESR, radiological damage
Notes	Patients included in the analysis: 91% in the gold group 95% in the control group Quality score: 4
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Unclear risk	D ‐ Not used