Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Studies on carbamazepine and valproate monotherapy were included. The study follow-up time ranged from 11 to 60 months for the studies on carbamazepine, and from 4 to 60 months for the valproate studies.
Specific interventions included in the review
Oral carbamazepine monotherapy with a mean dose ranging from 450 to 762 mg/day, or a median dose of 600 mg/day. Oral valproate monotherapy with a mean dose ranging from 688 to 2,099 mg/day.
The methods of detecting adverse reactions included: self-reporting plus laboratory investigation. self-reporting alone, laboratory investigation plus the use of an adverse effect checklist, specific toxicity scales alone, and specific toxicity scales plus neuropsychological testing.
Participants included in the review
Patients with epilepsy including those attending the out-patient department of a university neurology clinic.
Outcomes assessed in the review
The outcomes assessed are the percentage of patients with the following adverse effects: diplopia, nystagmus, dysarthria, gait, rapid alternating movements, tremor, sedation, affect and mood disturbance, cognitive impairments, dizziness, headache, other neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal complaints, haemopoietic disturbances, dermatological reactions, impotence, hyponatraemia, abnormal liver function tests, weight changes, hair loss or hirsutism, and other systemic toxicity.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors do not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many of the authors performed the selection.