| Methods |
Design: three group cross‐over trial
Purpose: examine the effect of nebulised furosemide and placebo on breathlessness |
| Participants |
Patients: patients with cancer and breathlessness
Baseline comparability: cross‐over trial |
| Interventions |
Placebo: inhalation of saline
Untreated: no inhalation
Experimental: inhalation of furosemide
(Co‐intervention: standard cancer treatment |
| Outcomes |
Number reading test (number read per breath)
Number reading test (total number)
Arm exercise test
Duration of arm test
Borg Score at maximum equivalent work load
Change in spirometric values |
| Notes |
Cross‐over trial. data from 1 period not available. |
| Risk of bias |
| Bias |
Authors' judgement |
Support for judgement |
| Blinding?
Treatment provider |
Low risk |
'The object of the current randomised, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over study...' |
| Incomplete outcome data addressed?
All outcomes |
Low risk |
Drop‐out < 15% |
| Free of selective reporting? |
Unclear risk |
No protocol available |
| Free of other bias? |
Unclear risk |
Cross‐over trial. Data from 1 period not available. |
| No signs of variance inequality or skewness? |
High risk |
Either variance inequality (F‐test statistically significant) or skewness (1.64 standard deviations exceeds the mean) |
| Trial size > 49? |
High risk |
N = 30 |
| Clearly concealed allocation + trial size > 49 + drop‐out max 15% |
High risk |
Trial size < 49 |
