This exploratory overview aims to assess complex interventions in physical medicine. Exercise therapy ("Krankengymnastik/Heilgymnastik" in German) is most often used for the treatment of diseases and conditions that primarily affect the musculoskeletal system. It intends to practice patterns of movement and strengthen the skeletal muscles in order to relieve pain and improve physical function and thereby improve health-related quality of life. This systematic review (of systematic reviews and meta-analyses) aims to gather evidence on the efficacy and safety of exercise therapy ("Krankengymnastik/Heilgymnastik") for different indications.

In the absence of an explicit and generally accepted definition of "Krankengymnastik/Heilgymnastik", its boundaries to other interventions in the field of physical medicine, such as training therapy, remain unclear. Most of the scientific evidence is published in English, where broader terms like "exercise therapy" or "physiotherapy" are used that subsume all kinds of exercise, which aim at facilitating physical exercise in general.

The limited evidence indicates that exercise therapy ("Krankengymnastik/Heilgymnastik") reduces pain (back pain, lumbar disc surgery) and improves function (back pain, osteoarthritis of the knee, lumbar disc surgery, knee arthroplasty), gait (stroke) and quality of life. In addition, there were no increased adverse events (hip fracture surgery, stroke) associated with exercise therapy.

Recommendations about design details for specific programmes involving exercise therapy ("Krankengymnastik/Heilgymnastik") cannot be drawn from this highly aggregated evidence. In addition, this systematic review can neither make statements related to single interventions in the field of physical medicine, nor be used for the appraisal of such single interventions.