Study	Reason for exclusion
Allon 2002	Pharmacokinetic study
BA16260 Study 2006	Dose finding study
Bennett 1991	Participants not on dialysis
Besarab 1998	Haematocrit target study
Bhuiyan 2004	Dose varied, not frequency
Brandt 1999	Dose varied, not frequency
Brown 1988	Haematocrit target study
Canadian EPO Study 1990	Injection frequency was not randomised; participants were randomised to placebo (Group 1) and two groups maintaining Hb from 95 to 110 g/L (Group 2) or 115 to 130 g/L (Group 3)
Castro 1994	Unclear how patients were allocated to groups; no reply from study author
Chazot 2009	Dose study
Dougherty 2004	Dose dependent study not on dialysis
Fan 1992	Unclear how patients were allocated to groups, wrote to authors, no response
Hirakata 2010	Participants not on dialysis
Icardi 1990	Different routes of administration (not frequency)
Ifudu 1998	No control group, no change in frequency
Iwasaki 2008	Examined conversion ratios for EPO to darbepoetin
Kawanishi 2005	Dose escalation study
Kim 2009a	Compared different routes of administration
Knebel 2008	Pharmacokinetic study
Locatelli 2008	Control group received either weekly darbepoetin or rHuEPO 2 to 3 times weekly; numbers receiving each control intervention could not be separated.
Macdougall 2003	Dose escalation study
Macdougall 2006	Participants not on dialysis
Macdougall 2007a	Study terminated by sponsor for commercial reasons. No results available
Martin 2007	Dose only varied, not frequency
Moiz 2000	Only varied dosage, not frequency
Muirhead 1992	Injection frequency was not randomised; participants randomised to placebo (Group 1) and two groups maintaining Hb from 95 to 110 g/L (Group 2) or 115 to 130 g/L (Group 3)
Nissenson 1995	Safety and efficacy study of EPO vs. placebo
Parfrey 2005	Hb target study
PATRONUS Study 2009	Compared CERA and darbepoetin at same dose intervals
Pawlak 2007	Study of metalloproteinases with ESA
Provenzano 2006	Described two phase‐2 studies. Dialysis and non‐dialysis patients not separated
Raftery 2000	Not RCT
Schmitt 2006	Not relevant. Focus on pain
Smith 2007	Pharmacokinetic study
Smyth 2006	Not a frequency study
Spaia 1995	No mention of randomisation. Changed both dose and frequency
Spinowitz 2006	Dosage, no change in frequency
Stockenhuber 1990	Study of EPO effect on stem cells
Tan 1990a	Not a frequency study
Tolman 2005	Computer‐assisted anaemia management
Wang 2000	Not clear how patients were allocated to treatment. Cross‐over study, wrote to authors to establish if patients were randomised ‐ no reply
Yalcinkaya 1997	Primary randomisation was to two different doses of rHuEPO