| Study | Reason for exclusion |
|---|---|
| Adsuar 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (companion) |
| Ahlgren 2001 | Diagnosis ‐ trapezius myalgia |
| Alentorn‐Geli 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Alentorn‐Geli 2009 | Lacks required outcomes |
| Altan 2004 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Altan 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Amanollahi 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Andrade 2016 | Not an RCT |
| Ang 2007 | Randomization does not allow analysis of the effects of exercise |
| Aquino 2013 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Arcos‐Carmona 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Assis 2006 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Astin 2003 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Bailey 1999 | Not an RCT ( one ‐group design) |
| Bakker 1995 | Designated outcomes were not measured |
| Baniak 2015 | Study does not include exercise |
| Baptista 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Bardal 2015 | Not an RCT |
| Bircan 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Bojner‐Horwitz 2006 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Bote 2013 | Not an RCT |
| Bressan 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Buckelew 1998 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Calandre 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Carbonell‐Baeza 2011 | RCT protocol ( physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Carbonell‐Baeza 2012 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Carson 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Carson 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Casanueva‐Fernandez 2012 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Castel 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Castel 2015 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Castro‐Sanchez 2011 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Cedraschi 2004 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Clarke‐Jenssen 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Cocke 2015 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Da Costa 2005 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| da Silva 2007 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| da Silva 2015 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Dal 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Dawson 2003 | Not an RCT ( one ‐group before‐after design) |
| De Andrade 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| de Araujo Farias 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| de Melo Vitorino 2006 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Delgado 2011 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Demir‐Gocmen 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Ekici 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Etnier 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Evcik 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Field 2003 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Fioravanti 2015 | Study does not include exercise |
| Gandhi 2000 | Not an RCT |
| Garcia‐Martinez 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gavi 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Geel 2002 | Not an RCT |
| Genc 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Genc 2015 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Giannotti 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gomes da Silva 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gonzalez 2015 | Not an RCT |
| Gowans 1999 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gowans 2002 | Focused on measurement issues of selected variables already reported in an included study; new variables did not include standard deviations |
| Gowans 2004 | Between ‐group data for exercise intervention not available |
| Guarino 2001 | Diagnosis did not meet requirements (Gulf War syndrome) |
| Gusi 2006 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gusi 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (companion) |
| Gusi 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Gusi Fuertes 2016 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Hakkinen 2001 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Hakkinen 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Hammond 2006 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Han 1998 | Not a randomized study (geographical control) |
| Hecker 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Hoeger Bement 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Hoeger Bement 2014 | Not an RCT |
| Hooten 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Hsieh 2010 | Not an RCT |
| Huijnen 2016 | Not an RCT |
| Hunt 2000 | Diagnosis of FMS was not clear, even when the study author was contacted to clarify the diagnostic criteria used |
| Huyser 1997 | Not an RCT |
| Ide 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Ismael 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Jentoft 2001 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Jones 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Jones 2007 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Jones 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Jones 2009 | Not an RCT; a topical review |
| Jones 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Jones 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Joshi 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Kadetoff 2010 | Not an RCT |
| Kaleth 2013 | Randomization does not allow analysis of the effects of exercise |
| Kaleth 2016 | Randomization does not allow analysis of the effects of exercise |
| Karolinska Institutet 2015 | Study does not include exercise |
| Karper 2001 | Not a randomized trial (program evaluation) |
| Keel 1998 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Kendall 2000 | Study did not meet exercise criteria ( body awareness) |
| Kesiktas 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Khalsa 2009 | Not an RCT |
| Kibar 2015 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Kingsley 2005 | Diagnosis of FMS made by physician or rheumatologist, but when contacted, study authors did not verify the use of published criteria (eg, ACR 1990 classification) |
| Kingsley 2010 | Not an RCT |
| Klug 1989 | Not an RCT |
| Kroenke 2013 | Diagnosis; no data |
| Kurt 2016 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Lange 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Larsson 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Latorre 2013 | Not an RCT |
| Latorre 2015 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Lemstra 2005 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Letieri 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Liu 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Lopez‐Pousa 2015 | Study does not include exercise |
| Lorig 2008 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Lynch 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| López‐Rodríguez 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Mannerkorpi 2000 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Mannerkorpi 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Mannerkorpi 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Martin 1996 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Martin 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Martin‐Nogueras 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Mason 1998 | Not a randomized trial ( participants enrolled for multimodal treatment compared with those who were unable to participate for insurance reasons) |
| Matsumoto 2011 | Data for FM were not isolated |
| Matsutani 2007 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Matsutani 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| McCain 1986 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (companion) |
| McCain 1988 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Meiworm 2000 | Not a randomized trial ( participant s self ‐selected their groups) |
| Meyer 2000 | Between ‐group data for exercise intervention are not available |
| Mobily 2001 | Not an RCT ( case study) |
| Munguia‐Izquierdo 2007 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Munguia‐Izquierdo 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Mutlu 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (data for outcomes are not available) |
| Newcomb 2011 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Nielen 2000 | Not a randomized trial (cross‐sectional case control study of fitness) |
| Nijs 2004 | Not an RCT |
| Norregaard 1997 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Offenbacher 2000 | Not an RCT ( narrative review) |
| Olivares 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (companion) |
| Oncel 1994 | Insufficient description of exercise (one group received "medical therapy and exercise"; no further information about the exercise intervention was given) |
| Palekar 2014 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Paolucci 2016 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Pastor 2014 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Perez‐ de la Cruz 2015 | Study does not allow analysis of fibromyalgia only |
| Peters 2002 | Diagnosis does not meet requirements (persistent unexplained symptoms) |
| Pfeiffer 2003 | Not an RCT (one ‐group before‐after design) |
| Piso 2001 | Not a randomized trial ‐ Our translator reported: "The authors wrote only how they recruited nine of the patients. They wrote nothing about if and how the patients were allocated to the two groups." We were unsuccessful on several attempts to contact study authors for clarification |
| Richards 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Rivera 2004 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Rooks 2002 | Not an RCT (one‐group design) |
| Rooks 2007 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Salek 2005 | Not an RCT |
| Santana 2010 | Diagnosis does not meet requirements |
| Sa¤udo 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2010 | Diagnosis does not meet requirements |
| Sañudo 2010a | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2010b | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2012 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2012a | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sañudo 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Schmidt 2011 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Sigl‐Erkel 2011 | Not an RCT |
| Srikuea 2013 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Steiner 2015 | Not a physical activity RCT; analysis does not isolate the effects of exercise |
| Suman 2009 | Not an RCT |
| Thieme 2003 | Did not meet exercise criteria (passive PT with light movement in water ‐ active exercise was too small a component and was not described or quantified sufficiently) |
| Thijssen 1992 | Not an RCT |
| Tiidus 1997 | One ‐group repeated ‐measures design |
| Tomas‐Carus 2007a | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Tomas‐Carus 2007b | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Tomas‐Carus 2007c | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Tomas‐Carus 2007d | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Tomas‐Carus 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Tomas‐Carus 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Torres 2015 | Study does not include exercise |
| Uhlemann 2007 | Not an RCT |
| Valencia 2009 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Valim 2003 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Valim 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training (companion) |
| Valkeinen 2004 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Valkeinen 2005 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Valkeinen 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| van Eijk‐Hustings 2013 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| van Koulil 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| VanRavenstein 2014 | Not an RCT |
| vanSanten 2002 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| vanSanten 2002a | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Verstappen 1997 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Vlaeyen1996 | Mode of exercise was insufficientl described. "Each session ended with a physical exercise such as swimming or bicycling, excluding systematic physical or fitness training" |
| Wang 2010 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Wang 2015 | RCT protocol (physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training ) |
| Westfall 1999 | Diagnosis does not meet requirements |
| Williams 2010 | Exercise requirements were not met |
| Worrel 2001 | Not an RCT ( one‐group design) |
| Yuruk 2008 | Physical activity intervention did not meet requirements for aerobic training |
| Zijlstra 2005 | Not an RCT |
FM: fibromyalgia; FMS: fibromyalgia syndrome; PT: physical therapy; RCT: randomized controlled trial