Table 1 Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TiDieR) Items 1–12

Item 1: Brief name

Unsupervised Elastic Band Exercises for Frail Geriatric Inpatients

Item 2: Why

To increase the physical activity, muscle strength and physical performance of frail geriatric inpatients.

Item 3: What (materials)

• BandCizer Datalogger version 1

• 2.5 m Latex-free Elastic Bands in five possible loads (TheraBand).

• Information about the benefits of staying active during hospitalization.

Item 4: What (procedures)

• Unsupervised elastic band exercises as a supplement to the standard supervised and physiotherapeutic training.

• Instruction in elastic band exercises for both upper and lower extremity.

• Information about the benefits of staying active during hospitalization.

• Tests at baseline (at the time of hospitalization) and discharge: 30-s chair-stand test (STS) [29], De Morton Mobility Index (DEMMI) [30] and Barthel-100 Index [28].

Item 5: Who provided

• A project physiotherapist with five years’ clinical experience and experience with frail geriatric inpatients (first author, CRR) gave information and instructions to the patients.

• Before the beginning of the intervention the project physiotherapist undertook a further 20 hours of training of the intervention itself.

• A physiotherapist from the daily staff tested the patients at hospitalization and at discharge, and a nurse from the daily staff tested the patients with Barthel-100 Index.

Item 6: How

• Information to the patients was delivered in person.

• Individual exercise instruction, 30 minutes duration (Day 1).

• Follow-up on the execution of exercises (Day 2 and Day 4) if the patient was still hospitalized.

Item 7: Where

The intervention was carried out in the hospital room of each patient (bed and chair available) on the geriatric ward. The geriatric ward receives patients with acute illnesses assessed to have a rehabilitative potential.

Item 8: When and how much

• Instruction in executing unsupervised elastic band exercises with a BandCizer mounted to the elastic band.

• Instruction in one exercise for the upper extremity and one exercise for the lower extremity.

• The unsupervised elastic band exercises were recommended one time per day every day and for as long as the patient was hospitalized.

• Three times ten repetitions (10–12RM) [7] according to a time-under-tension of 3 seconds for the concentric phase, 2 seconds for the isometric phase and 3 seconds for the eccentric phase (in total 240 seconds for the upper extremity and 240 seconds per leg for unilateral lower extremity exercises).

Item 9: Tailoring

Patients were tested at baseline to determine which type of elastic band they could execute the exercise with and maintain 10–12RM. The starting position was also defined at baseline. The exercises were continuously adapted to the patients during the course of the intervention if necessary.

Item 10: Modifications

Patients were only instructed in one exercise if any contraindications existed. E.g. a patient might have been instructed in an upper extremity exercise immediately after lower extremity surgery.

Item 11: How well (planned)

The patient was encouraged to execute the intervention and the rationale for the exercises was made clear to the patient. This information was verbally explained to the patient at baseline and follow-up sessions. In addition, a written note was handed to the patient where the information could be retrieved and the individual exercises were further described visually and linguistically.

Item 12: How well (actual)

The objectively monitored adherence to the exercises was part of the purpose of this study and described in detail elsewhere.