| Review | No of studies that included psychosocial factors | Data sources | Main outcome measures | Populations | Languages considered |
| Bongers et al, 199333 | 15 (5 CO, 10 CS) (1973–92) | Medline, OSH-ROM, CISDOC, PsycINFO, manual searching | Neck pain, neck disorder and shoulder pain | General and working populations | English |
| Van der Windt et al, 200037 | 29* (26 CS, 3 CC) (1966–98) | Medline, Embase, PsycLIT, Cinahl | Shoulder (joint) pain | No restrictions indicated | English |
| Ariens et al, 200135 | 29 (1 CO, 28 CS) (1966–97) | Medline, Embase, PsycLIT, SportDiscus, HSELINE, CISDOC NIOSHTIC | Neck pain | Community or working populations | English, Dutch, German |
| Malchaire et al, 200134 | 64† (7 CO, 57 CS) | Not indicated | Neck, shoulder, hand and wrist pain | No restrictions indicated | English |
| Bongers et al, 200230 | 28 (1 CO, 1 CC, 26 CS) (1980–99) | Medline, PsycINFO, Ergonomics Abstracts, OSH-ROM, manual searching | Shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist pain | No restrictions indicated | English |
| Walker-Bone et al, 200336 | 14 (2 CO, 2 CC, 10 CS) (1980–2001) | Medline and Embase | Neck pain, shoulder pain, upper limb pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, hand pain + specific upper limb diagnoses | General and working populations | Not stated |
*Between 11 and 14 studies included each of the individual psychosocial factors considered.
†Of which, 29 studies considered psychosocial factors of interest relating to the neck/shoulder.
CC, case–control; CO, cohort; CS, cross-sectional.