Background Fatigue is an important and distressing symptom for many people living with chronic musculoskeletal conditions. Many non-pharmacological interventions have been investigated, and some shown to be effective in reducing fatigue, but the evidence is disparate across conditions and the lifespan.

Objectives To create an overview of current knowledge by identifying existing non-pharmacological interventions for MSK fatigue across the lifespan, including their theoretical basis, characteristics of participants and the clinical competencies of those delivering interventions; to highlight gaps and collaborate with Patient and Public Involvement groups to identify priorities.

Methods This scoping review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, including evidence relating to people of all ages who have been offered a non-pharmacological intervention with either the intention or effect of reducing MSK fatigue and its impact. Databases were searched for peer-reviewed primary research studies published after 1st January 2007 in English language.

Results Two hundred and sixty-eight eligible studies were found, including 72 studies primarily focused on fatigue. Conditions most frequently studied included fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematous. Physical activity interventions were the most studied, most participants were adults and approximately 75% were female. Common exclusion criteria were physical comorbidities, psychiatric disease or unstable health conditions and cognitive impairments.

Conclusions Few studies explore how interventions can be combined to achieve person-centred fatigue management, and many groups are routinely excluded from participating in relevant research. To effectively tailor interventions to the needs of individuals it is important to understand how their characteristics may interact with their health needs.

PMM has received consulting/speaker fees from Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Orphazyme, Pfizer, Roche and UCB, all unrelated to this project. There are no competing interests in this project.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082555

This scoping review is part of the project MusculoskelEtal faTigue acRoss the lIfe CourSe: understanding what helps and mapping what is missing (METRICS) (reference 23140), which is jointly funded by Versus Arthritis and The Kennedy Trust.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author