McMurdo 2009.

Study characteristics
Methods	RCT (2 centres)
Participants	Setting: Dundee and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom  N = 253 Sample: people admitted to hospital with acute illness who appeared undernourished (61% women) Age (years): mean 82 (SD 62) Inclusion criteria: consenting; community‐dwelling; aged ≥ 70; admitted to the hospital with an acute illness; BMI < 24.0 kg/m2 and mid‐arm muscle circumference below the 10th centile or weight loss of 5% or more during the hospital stay Exclusion criteria: Barthel Index > 8, chronic liver disease or renal failure (serum creatinine 43.39 mg/dL); residence in a care home; cognitive impairment precluding informed consent; dysphagia; metastatic carcinoma or other terminal illness; acute inflammatory arthritis; stroke affecting both hands; major surgery within the preceding month
Interventions	1. Oral nutritional supplementation (400 mL/day of Fresubin, Fresenius Kabi Ltd, Runcorn, Cheshire, UK: 600 kcal, 2520 kJ, 40 g protein, a nutritionally complete liquid protein and energy supplement) 2. Control: matching control supplement (based on skim milk containing minimal energy: 200 kcal, 840 kJ, 12.4 g protein content) in identical packaging
Outcomes	1. Number of people falling Falls are a secondary outcome in this study. Other outcomes reported but not included in this review
Duration of the study	4 months
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Quote: "Randomization was stratified according to site, in random permuted blocks of 4. An individual not involved in the study prepared the randomization schedule from computer‐generated random number tables."
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Quote: "Participants were allocated to oral nutritional supplementation ... or to a matching control supplement ... Both preparations were packaged in identical 200‐mL plain white rectangular cartons and labeled using one of two randomization codes."
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	Quote: "Both preparations were packaged in identical 200‐mL plain white rectangular cartons and labeled using one of two randomization codes."
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Falls and fallers	Low risk	Likely to be low given that the participants were blinded to contents of supplement and "... observations were recorded blind to treatment allocation"
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) Falls	Unclear risk	SeeAppendix 3 for method of assessment
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) Fallers	Low risk	SeeAppendix 3 for method of assessment
Risk of bias in recall of falls	Unclear risk	Quote: "Falls were recorded prospectively using the validated daily diary method." But no mention of telephone contact or frequency of return.