Background. In order to determine which interventions are effective in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, valid and reliable instruments are required. However, there is a lack of consistency in the use of outcome measures, both in research and in treatment, that makes comparisons difficult or impossible; the content and quality varies widely be-tween questionnaires. This study focuses on the measurements of the physical function-ing of people with MSDs. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate how physical function is measured in people with musculoskeletal disorders or chronic pain. Specifically we want to determine: (1) What instruments are used to measure physical function in people with musculoskeletal disorders or chronic pain? (2) What do those instruments measure? (3) What is the methodological quality of these instruments?

Method. The study was performed as a systematic literature review in the data bases PubMed, Cinahl, Web of Science, and Scopus, using the same set of keywords and Bool-ean operators. The selection of relevant articles was performed by reviewing the title and abstract first, and the article text thereafter. Selected articles were classified according to the “ICF Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.” Subsequently, articles will be examined with respect to relevant quality indicators using the “Cosmin checklist.”

Results. 69 relevant questionnaires were found and were sorted into groups according to focus. As a first step, neck and arm-shoulder-hand questionnaires were analyzed. The ICF-classification revealed that the included items belonged to the components “body func-tions” and “activity/participation,” and the included domains varied significantly between the questionnaires. The quality of the instruments will be determined in the next step.

Discussion. A review and analysis of this kind makes it possible for researchers and clini-cians to more easily select the most suitable questionnaire for their purpose based on the content and quality of the questionnaire.