Sivanandan 2009.

Study characteristics
Methods	Randomised controlled trial
Participants	Inclusion criteria: Healthy term neonates Non‐haemolytic jaundice between 24 hours and 10 days of age Apgar at 5 minutes > 6 Serum total bilirubin (TSB) < 21 mg/dL (357 μmol/L) Exclusion criteria: Hyperbilirubinaemia requiring exchange transfusion Rhesus haemolytic disease Evidence of haemolysis in peripheral smear Positive direct Coombs test Glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency Major congenital malformation Culture‐positive sepsis Need for intensive care Single‐unit phototherapy was said to have "failed" if at any time during phototherapy, TSB > 357 μmol/L was documented Mean (SD) of age in days at recruitment: Intervention = 2.70 (1.03) Control = 3.04 (1.83) Mean (SD) birth weight in kg of participants: Intervention = 2.79 (0.35) Control = 2.92 (0.33)
Interventions	Single phototherapy with white plastic reflective curtains vs single phototherapy
Outcomes	Mean duration of phototherapy Rate of fall of TSB units/time (μmol/h) for first 8 hours Mean reduction in TSB after 24 hours of phototherapy (mean, SD) Number of exchange transfusions All‐cause mortality
Notes	Study done in New Delhi, India, from October 2005 until March 2007. Adverse effects of phototherapy reported
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Method of randomisation not reported
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Sealed, sequentially numbered, opaque envelopes used
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Participants (parents): not blinded. Reflective curtains might inhibit handling of the baby by parents. Clinicians/Nurses not blinded, and reflective curtains might inhibit handling by nurses or parents
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Not reported. We judged bilirubin measurement to be an objective measurement not affected by lack of blinding
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Total of 5 (5.6%) babies excluded from analysis ‐ 2 for intervention group and 3 for control group
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	No protocol available. Based on description of the methods, all planned outcomes apparently reported
Other bias	Low risk	No other sources of bias detected

AAP: American Academy of Pediatrics.

ALTE: acute life‐threatening event.

DCT: direct Coombs test.

G6PD: glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase.

SB: serum bilirubin.

SD: standard deviation.

TSB: total serum bilirubin.