Spector 2003.

Study characteristics
Methods	RCT
Participants	N = 201 (158F/43M) Dementia (DSM‐IV criteria) ‐ MMSE 10‐24 MMSE: 14.4 (SD 3.8) Age: 85.3 (SD 7.0) Groups ran in 18 residential homes; 5 day‐centres
Interventions	Cognitive stimulation (N = 115) Treatment‐as‐usual (N = 86)
Outcomes	Cognition: MMSE; ADAS‐Cog Quality of life: QoL‐AD Communication: Holden Communication Scale Mood: Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia Behaviour: Behaviour Rating Scale (CAPE)
Notes	45 minutes, 2 times a week, for 7 weeks
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Randomly allocated to either group by drawing names from a sealed container
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Randomly allocated to either group by drawing names from a sealed container ‐ would have been preferable for randomisation to have been carried out independently
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Cognitive assessments and quality of life interview conducted by a blind assessor
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	34/201 did not complete study (18 CS/16 controls); 17% attrition; 'intention to treat analysis'
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	Data from all measures reported
Other bias ‐ training and supervision	Unclear risk	Groups led by a member of the research team with a member of staff as co‐facilitator; training and supervision unclear
Other bias ‐ treatment manual	Low risk	Manual developed for this study (Spector 2006)