Aaronson 1998.

Methods	Setting: multicentre study, USA, hospital outpatient clinics Length of intervention period: 6 weeks Randomisation: yes, method not stated Allocation concealment: unclear Design: parallel Masking: double blind, double dummy Excluded: not stated Withdrawals: stated Baseline characteristics: comparable Jadad score=3
Participants	64 adults: 49M 15F Age range: 18 ‐ 56 years Inclusion criteria: Adults patients with diagnosis of asthma (not otherwise defined) Aged 18‐65 years FEV1 (% predicted) 65 or greater Able to use Turbuhaler effectively and achieve inspiratory flow rate of at least 50 L/min Exclusion criteria: Hospitalisation due to asthma or respiratory tract infection in last 4 weeks Other significant disease Any corticosteroid therapy in last 6 months Significantly abnormal cortisol levels (basal or post cosyntropin)
Interventions	BUD: 200 mcg 2 pfs 2xdaily (800 mcg/d) 400 mcg 2pfs 2xdaily (1600 mcg/d) 800 mcg 2 pfs 2xdaily (3200 mcg/d) Placebo: 2 pfs 2xdaily Delivery device: Turbuhaler DPI
Outcomes	Plasma cortisol at 6 hours following continuous iv cosyntropin infusion, 0.25 mg/500 ml saline over 6 hours (nmol/L) Basal plasma cortisol (nmol/L)
Notes	No reply from author to clarify details of randomisation method. Prednisolone treatment arm included in study: results not considered
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	High risk	C ‐ Inadequate