De Francesco 2004b.

Methods	Prospective randomised study Dates the study was conducted: not reported Funding sources and potential conflicts of interest: No funding sources reported.The authors report no conflicts of interest Definition of compliance: >95% intake
Participants	Number and type of participants: 347 H.pylori‐positive participants were enrolled and 342 completed the study Number of participants randomised: 347 (ITT sample) Number of participants in the 7‐day STT arm: 115 Number of participants in the 10‐day STT arm: 116 Number of participants in the 10‐day SEQ arm: 116 Average age (SD) of the population in years reported by treatment group: 7‐day STT (reported as group A): 47 (13.5) 10‐day STT(reported as group B): 49 (13.8) 10‐day SEQ (reported as group C): 46 (12.3) Country: Italy Number of participants of the ITT population per treatment group with a medical condition: ‐ NUD, n = 228 (65.7%) 10‐day SEQ: 79/116 7‐day STT: 67/115 10‐day STT: 82/116 ‐ PUD, n = 119 (34.3%) 10‐day SEQ: 37/116 7‐day STT: 48/115 10‐day STT: 34/116 Sex proportions as M/F per treatment group 10‐day SEQ: 54/62 7‐day STT: 65/50 10‐day STT: 57/59
Interventions	Name, dose timing of antibiotics in STT: rabeprazole 20 mg twice a day + clarithromycin 500 mg twice a day + amoxicillin 1 g twice a day Name, dose timing of antibiotics in SEQ: rabeprazole 20 mg twice a day + amoxicillin 1 g twice a day (5 days) + rabeprazole 20 mg twice a day, clarithromycin 500 mg twice a day,tinidazole 500 mg twice a day (5 days) Sensitivity test (yes/no) to antibiotics before/after treatment: no Method of assessment of H. pylori status after treatment: ¹³C‐UBT, RUT, histology Time for assessment of H. pylori status after treatment: 6 ‐ 8 weeks
Outcomes	ITT eradication rate (%) by treatment group: 10‐day SEQ: 110/116 (94.8) 7‐day STT: 82/115 (71.3) 10‐day STT: 93/116 (80.1) PP eradication rate (%) by treatment group: 10‐day SEQ: 110/115 (65.6) 7‐day STT: 82/114 (71.9) 10‐day STT: 93/113 (82.3) Reported PP eradication rate (%) in NUD participants: 10‐day SEQ: 74/79 (93.6) 7‐day STT: 42/66 (63.6) 10‐day STT: 61/79 (77.2) Reported PP eradication rate (%) in PUD participants: 10‐day SEQ: 36/36 (100) 7‐day STT: 40/48 (83.3) 10‐day STT: 32/34 (94.1) Calculated ITT eradication rate (%) in NUD participants: 10‐day SEQ: 74/79 (93.6) 7‐day STT: 42/67 (63.6) 10‐day STT: 61/82(77.2) Calculated ITT eradication (%) in PUD participants: 10‐day SEQ: 36/37 (100) 7‐day STT: 40/48 (83.3) 10‐day STT: 32/34 (94.1) Overall PP eradication rate (%) for both the NUD and PUD groups respectively: 177/224 (79) and 108/118 (91.5) Metronidazole resistance (%) before treatment, SEQ ITT/PP: not reported Metronidazole resistance (%) before treatment, STT ITT/PP: not reported Clarithromycin resistance (%) before treatment, SEQ ITT/PP: not reported Clarithromycin resistance (%) before treatment, STT ITT/PP: not reported Compliance (%) in ITT sample SEQ/STT: reported as > 95% in all treatment groups Incidence (%) of AEs 10‐day SEQ/7‐day STT/10‐day STT: 10.3/6/7.7 Incidence (%) serious AEs SEQ / STT: not reported
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Truly randomised study by a computer‐generated list
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No information was reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Primary outcome data were clearly reported
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No information was reported
Publication format	Low risk	Full article