7. Quality of evidence ‐ GRADE assessment: long‐term effects of AE versus control comparison.

Quality assessment							Number of participants		Quality	Importance
Number of studies	Study design	Risk of bias	Inconsistency	Indirectness	Imprecision	Other comments	AE only	Control
HRQL (follow‐up 12 weeks after end of intervention; assessed with 0‐100 scale, lower is best)
2	Randomized trials	Seriousa	Seriousb	Not serious	Seriousc		60	48	⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low	CRITICAL
Pain intensity (follow‐up 12 weeks after end of intervention to 4 years; assessed with 0‐100 scale, lower is best)
3	Randomized trials	Seriousa	Not serious	Not serious	Seriousc		64	70	⊕⊕⊝⊝ low	CRITICAL
Fatigue (follow‐up from 12 weeks after end of intervention to 4 years; assessed with 0‐100 scale, lower is best)
2	Randomized trials	Seriousa	Seriousb	Not serious	Seriousc		50	50	⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low	IMPORTANT
Stiffness: not measured
Physical function (follow‐up at 12 weeks after end of intervention; assessed with 0‐100 scale, lower is best)
1	Randomized trials	Seriousd	Not serious	Not serious	Seriousc	One study	30	30	⊕⊝⊝⊝ very low	IMPORTANT
All‐cause withdrawal (follow‐up from 12 weeks after end of intervention to 4 years)
3	Randomized trials	Seriousa	Not serious	Not serious	Seriousc		22/92 (23.9%)	25/84 (29.8%)	⊕⊕⊝⊝ low	IMPORTANT
Adverse events: not reported

^aIssues with allocation, detection, performance, selective reporting, and other biases

^bConsiderable heterogeneity in results (I² = 80%)

^cNumber of participants lower than 400 rule of thumb, wide confidence interval

^dIssues related to detection bias, performance bias, and selective reporting

AE: aerobic exercise; HRQL: health‐related quality of life