Schuch 2011.

Methods	RCT
Participants	Hospital inpatients being treated for severe depression with conventional therapy (n = 26) Gender not specified
Interventions	1. 3 sessions per week of participant‐selected aerobic exercise (n = 15) 2. Control group receiving conventional therapy (i.e. pharmacotherapy/ECT only) (n = 11)
Outcomes	Depressive symptom rating by psychiatrist using HAM‐D scoring
Notes	Intervention continued 'until discharge' but no further information on length of intervention. No detail on exercise compliance rates. Of 40 originally invited to take part, 14 declined at outset.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Randomisation stated but details not given
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No details on how participants were allocated
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) participants	Unclear risk	No details given on to what extent participants were aware of the theoretical effects of exercise on depression. Participants not blinded to intervention but unclear of the effect of this on bias.
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) those delivering intervention	Unclear risk	Those delivering exercise not blinded to group; effect of this on bias is unclear
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) outcome assessors	Unclear risk	No detail given on whether those assessing outcome measures were blinded to group
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	All participants remained in trial throughout intervention
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	Reported on all measures outlined at start of trial
Other bias	Unclear risk	Unclear