Description of the intervention and control groups

The geriatric team provided the recommendations for each patient to the treating physician by two concurrent sources: writing them in the clinical record plus explaining to him/her in person, as they were responsible for implementation of the intervention. The team was composed of by a ‘core’ team (geriatrician and nurse) plus any other professional (physiotherapist, sport science professionals, nutritionist, registered dietitians, pharmacist, occupational therapist, psychologist and social worker) needed to improve the assessment or the design of the interventions in any particular patient. Patients were visited daily during their stay to check if the recommended measures had been implanted, updating them according to the clinical evolution, and reminding the treating physician if they had not been implemented. Only those patients where all the recommendations were implemented by his or her treating physician were considered ‘compliant’.
Both groups underwent telephone follow‐up at 3 months ± 1 week after hospital discharge. The researchers who carried out this follow‐up were blinded regarding the patient's group, intervention or control.