Objective To identify the scientific evidence associated with the benefits of the health professional's (HPs) approach to pain management for people with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and osteoarthritis (OA), serving as a basis for the the first “recommendations” and “points to consider” that enable HPs to provide prompt and knowledgeable support for pain in people with IA or OA.

Methods A systematic literature search was undertaken. Cochrane, Embase, PsycINFo, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for records of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, (practice) guidelines and recommendation articles containing results of studies evaluating management strategies for IA and OA and their effect on pain. Quality of the body of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Results Of 1569 papers, 184 papers were included. Papers reviewed effects of interventions on pain for OA (141 papers), RA (42 papers), and axial spondyloarthropathies (7 papers); for psoriatic arthritis no relevant papers were found. Interventions covered by this overview of reviews were: exercise interventions (87 papers), non-exercise physiotherapy interventions such as acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, electromagnetic fields, laser, diathermy, thermotherapy, and balneotherapy (77 papers), orthotics and assistive devices (41 papers), education (21 papers), weight reduction (14 papers), and psychological interventions (10 papers).

Conclusion During the conference the effects on pain and quality of the evidence will be presented per disease by type of intervention. A necessary research agenda is proposed. For IA, but also some types of OA, well-designed randomized controlled trials assessing the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on pain, are still needed. Evidence for prompt types of pain management is even more necessary.

Disclosure of Interest None declared