Nutrition and Exercise Interventions During Hospitalization in Frail or Sarcopenic Patients: A Scoping Review of Intervention Configurations and Evidence Gaps

Background/Objectives: Frailty and sarcopenia are common among hospitalized patients and are associated with poor clinical outcomes. Nutritional and exercise interventions are widely used to prevent muscle loss and functional decline; however, their independent and incremental effects remain unclear. This scoping review aimed to systematically map the characteristics and reported effects of these interventions during hospitalization. Methods: This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and PEDro. Eligible studies included adult hospitalized patients receiving nutritional interventions, exercise interventions, or both. Interventions were categorized into four groups: no intervention, nutrition alone, exercise alone, and combined interventions. Data regarding study characteristics, intervention details, and clinical outcomes were extracted and descriptively summarized. Results: Thirty-three studies were included. Considerable heterogeneity was observed in patient populations, intervention characteristics, and outcome measures. Most studies evaluated configurations including an exercise component (exercise alone or combined nutrition–exercise), whereas studies isolating nutrition or providing direct head-to-head comparisons between combined and single-component configurations were limited. Intervention dose and reporting were highly variable across studies. Conclusions: Current evidence on the effects of nutritional and exercise interventions during hospitalization remains heterogeneous and limited. Future studies should adopt standardized intervention reporting and directly compare combined and single-component strategies to determine additive and synergistic effects in patients with frailty or sarcopenia.