1. Descriptions of usual care, control interventions and exercise interventions.

Study ID	Usual care setting and description	Control/sham intervention	Intervention group setting and description	Intervention subgroup category	Exercise component of intervention	Exercise dose prescription	Exercise intervention adherence
Abizanda 2011	Acute geriatric unit. Geriatrician‐led care, physiotherapy requested by the geriatrician as required.	None.	Usual care conditions with additional occupational therapy interventions.	Rehabilitation‐related activities.	Occupational therapy including practice of activities of daily living.	45 minutes, 5 times per week (Monday–Friday), for the duration of hospital admission.	Mean 5 sessions per participant.
Asplund 2000	Medical ward.  Internist‐led care, physiotherapy and occupational therapy not routinely available. No geriatrician.	None.	Acute geriatric ward. Care provided by both geriatricians and internists. Multidisciplinary team included physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dietitians. Emphasis on interdisciplinary care.	Rehabilitation‐related activities.	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included early start of rehabilitation and routine physiotherapy and occupational therapy assessments.	No information.	No information.
Blanc‐Bisson 2008	Acute care geriatric medicine unit. Physiotherapy provided from day 3 of admission, for 3 sessions per week until discharge.	None.	Usual care conditions with additional physiotherapy.	Structured exercise.	Early physiotherapy starting from day 1–2 of admission consisting of bed and standing exercises.	30 minutes, 2 times per day, 5 times per week, until deemed clinically stable.	No information.
Brown 2016	Medical ward. Physicians could order physiotherapy services.	Usual care with daily 15‐ to 20‐minute visits from research assistants, up to twice daily, 7 days per week. Participants requested to keep a diary of their visitors.	Usual care conditions + mobility programme, and encouragement to increase time out of bed.	Structured exercise	Assisted/ supervised mobility programme with behavioural intervention to encourage additional physical activity outside the supervised intervention.	15–20 minutes, up to twice per day, 7 days per week, for the duration of hospital admission.	122/238 (51.3%) potential walks were completed.
Counsell 2000	Usual care units. Not described.	None.	Acute Care for Elders Unit Renovated ward with a physiotherapy room. Daily interdisciplinary team rounds provided by geriatrician medical director and geriatric clinical nurse specialist who created care plans. Care processes designed to promote functional independence.	Rehabilitation related activities.	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included a mobility protocol and physiotherapy.	No information.	No information.
Courtney 2009	Medical ward. Routine care, discharge planning and rehabilitation advice normally provided.	None.	Usual care with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise.	With 72 hours of admission a care plan was produced by a nurse and physiotherapist which included: facilitated stretching, balance training, walking and strengthening exercises.	Walking for up to 15 minutes (duration of other exercise not specified), up to 2–4 times per week, for the duration of the hospital admission.	No information regarding in‐hospital adherence.
de Morton 2007	Medical wards. Daily medical assessment, and allied health service on referral.	None.	Usual care with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Supervised strengthening and mobility exercise.	20–30 minutes, twice per day, 5 days per week, for the duration of the hospital admission.	No information.
Ekerstad 2017	Acute medical care unit. Care led by physicians specialising in internal medicine. Physiotherapy/ occupational therapy available for counselling only.	None.	Comprehensive geriatric assessment unit. Structured comprehensive geriatric assessment and care led by physicians specialising in internal medicine, family medicine,  geriatrics or a combination. Unit staff included physiotherapists and occupational therapists.	Rehabilitation‐related activities.	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included routine physiotherapy and occupational therapy.	No information.	No information.
Fretwell 1990	Medical or surgical floors. Description not provided other than 'standard medical care'.	None.	Senior Care Unit Functional assessment on admission, 3 clinical team meetings and 1 administration meeting weekly. Geriatric assessment team included nurse co‐ordinators and a physiotherapist. Emphasise interdisciplinary comprehensive geriatric assessment and intervention.	Rehabilitation‐related activities.	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included routine functional assessment and physiotherapy.	No information.	No information.
Gazineo 2021	Geriatric unit. Care led by a geriatrician and provided by multidisciplinary team.	None.	Usual care with a walking intervention guided by geriatrician, delivered by nurses.	Structured exercise.	Assisted walking programme.	20–30 minutes, daily, 5 days per week, for the duration of hospitalisation.	A mean time of 32 minutes per session (range 10–67), with a mean distance of 89 m (range 0–260). Mean number of intervention days for each participant was 5.8.
Hu 2020	Medical wards. Not described.	None.	Usual care conditions with mobility programme.	Structured exercise.	Assisted or supervised exercise, including balance, pedalling and mobility activities.	Up to 30 minutes per day, for the duration of hospital admission.	No information.
Jeffs 2013	Medical unit. Daily medical assessment and allied health professionals available via referral.	None.	Usual care conditions with additional exercise and orientation.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise and mobility training.	20–30 minutes per day (Monday–Friday), twice per day, for the duration of hospitalisation.	Median of 1.4 therapy sessions per day or 38 minutes per day (including weekends and routine therapy). This was equivalent to approximately 1.4 sessions or 42 minutes of additional therapy per weekday compared to the control group.
Jones 2006	General medical wards. Allied health interventions including physiotherapy available.	None.	Usual care conditions with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Individualised assisted or supervised strength, balance and functional exercises.	30 minutes, twice per day for the duration of hospitalisation.	Median of 160 minutes (IQR 120–360) participating in the exercise intervention.
Killey 2006	Medical units. Physiotherapy available.	None.	Usual care conditions with additional assisted/ supervised walking.	Structured exercise.	Assisted or supervised walking programme.	Twice per day, 7 days per week, for 7 days. The distance walked was the maximum distance able to be comfortably walked as decided by that individual at that time.	No information.
Landefeld 1995	General medical unit. Care led by attending physician, nursing:participant ratio approximately 1:2. Access to hospital wide support services including physiotherapy.	None.	Acute Care for Elders Unit Care led by medical and nursing directors. Increased funded multidisciplinary team hours compared to usual care (including physiotherapy) with care protocols and ward environment designed to promote independence and early discharge.	Rehabilitation‐related activities	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included a mobility protocol and physiotherapy.	No information.	No information.
Martinez‐Velilla 2019	Acute Care for the Elderly Unit. Care led by a geriatrician with routine physiotherapy available when needed.	None	Usual care conditions with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise	Supervised morning sessions included progressive resistance, balance and walking exercises. Unsupervised functional exercises in evenings.	20 minutes, twice per day for 5–7 consecutive days (including weekends).	The mean number of completed morning sessions per participant was 5 (SD 1) and evening sessions was 4 (SD 1). Adherence to the intervention was 95.8% for the morning sessions (i.e. 806 successfully completed sessions of 841 total possible sessions) and 83.4% in the evening sessions (574 of 688 successfully completed sessions).
McCullagh 2020	All wards admitting older medical patients. Physiotherapy available to all participants (mean 3 sessions per week).	Usual care with twice‐daily sessions (Monday–Friday) each 20–30 minutes of stretching and relaxation exercises in lying or sitting. Participants encouraged to talk about their condition and exercise, none given education, encouragement or assisted to exercise or walk more.	Usual care with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Assisted or supervised tailored strengthening, balance and gait exercises.	Up to 30 minutes, 2 times per day (Monday–Friday) for the duration of hospital admission.	63/95 participants completed ≥ 75% of possible exercise sessions; 16/95 participants completed 50–74% of possible exercise sessions. 13/95 participants completed 25–49% of possible exercise sessions. 3/95 participants completed < 25% of possible exercise sessions.
McGowan 2018a	Acute medical wards for older people. Not described.	None.	Usual care with additional pedalling exercise.	Structured exercise.	Unsupervised pedalling exercise.	5 minutes, 3 times per day.	The median number of revolutions cycled throughout the entire study period with the pedal exerciser was 152 (IQR 43.5–464.5) revolutions. The median time spent on the pedal exerciser was 5.08 (IQR 2.03–20.05) minutes across the whole study period.
Mudge 2008	Medical ward. Multidisciplinary care included daily discussion of participant progress and discharge plan. Referrals made to physiotherapy or occupational therapy when needed.	None.	Medical ward  Usual care with additional exercise and cognitive group therapy to encourage mobility. Intervention ward staff, participants and carers educated to encourage mobility and functional independence.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Graduated and tailored supervised exercise programme.	Twice per day for the duration of hospital admission.	92% of participants in the intervention group received an exercise diary and made some record of exercise; 1/3 completed their diary every day.
Ortiz‐Alonso 2020	Acute care of older patient units Not described.	None.	Usual care with additional exercise.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Supervised walking and sit to stand exercises.	1–3 sessions per day, with a total duration of approximately 20 minutes per day (Monday–Friday).	Participants performed a median of 3 training days (IQR 2) and 2 training sessions per day (IQR 2), with a mean total exercise time per day of 20 minutes (for each session, the median duration of the walking part was 5 minutes (IQR 4, range 0–10), and participants performed a mean of 9 (SD 6, range 0 to 30) sit‐to‐stands).
Pedersen 2019	Acute medical ward and internal medicine ward. National targets to assess function and nutrition and make an appropriate plan within 24–48 hours of admission. Rehabilitation often started during hospitalisation.	None.	Usual care with additional exercise and protein supplements.	Progressive resistance exercise.	Supervised progressive strength training based on sit to stand exercises.	20 minutes daily (Monday–Friday) for the duration of hospital admission.	78.8% of participants started the intervention 0–2 days after admission. Overall (during and after hospitalisation), 43% (18/42) of the participants randomised to the intervention group were very compliant with the intervention (80% of sessions performed with 2 sets of 8 repetitions).
Sahota 2017	General medical elderly care wards. Therapy provided by ward occupational therapist and physiotherapist on weekdays only.	None.	General medical elderly care wards. Therapy provided by community therapy team including occupational therapist and physiotherapist 7 days per week if appropriate.	Rehabilitation related activities.	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included daily rehabilitation with a physiotherapist or occupational therapist.	Daily, duration dependent on needs.	No information.
Slaets 1997	General medical unit. Description not provided.	None.	General Medical Unit. In addition to usual care, a geriatric team consisting of a geriatrician, physiotherapist and liaison nurse provided care including daily physiotherapy. The aim of the team was to optimise function and mobility.	Rehabilitation related activities	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included daily physiotherapy.	No information.	No information.
Zelada 2009	Internal medical care unit. Care led by internist physician and had access to physical and occupational therapy by referral.	None.	Geriatric care unit. Care led by geriatrician and ward team included physiotherapist and occupational therapist.	Rehabilitation‐related activities	Exercise component not specifically described, intervention included a mobility protocol and physiotherapy.	No information.	No information.

IQR: interquartile range; SD: standard deviation.