Sigler 1974.

Methods	Randomized allocation Double blind allocation and asessment Sample size at entry: gold 13; placebo 14
Participants	Patients with active RA (definite or classical) Mean age ‐ 45 yrs Mean duration of disease ‐ gold 28 months; placebo 35 months No previous treatment with gold
Interventions	Aurothiomalate ‐ First 3 weeks 10, 15, 25 mg IM weekly, thereafter 50 mg weekly for 18 weeks; dose decreased progressively to 50 mg every 4 weeks until the end of the trial
Outcomes	Outcomes reported at baseline and months 6, 12 and 24 Efficacy measures ‐ number of swollen joints, grip strength, ring size, walking time, ESR, radiological damage
Notes	Patients included in the analysis: 100% in the gold group 100% in the control group Quality score: 4
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear