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Purpose: The objective of this systematic literature review was to: (1) estimate the prevalence of (symptoms of) rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and (2) explore how (symptoms of) RMDs are identified and documented in studies among nursing home residents., Methods: Prevalence data of (symptoms of) RMDs in permanently admitted nursing home residents ≥ 60 years were included. Data extraction, data synthesis and risk of bias assessment were performed by two reviewers independently. Included studies were categorized based on case ascertainment and case definition comprising: (location of) musculoskeletal pain, general terms for RMDs or a specific type of RMD. Results were summarized descriptively., Results: Out of 6900 records, 53 studies were included. Case ascertainment comprised databases (n = 5), physical examination (n = 1), self-report questionnaires (n = 14), review of medical charts (n = 23) and self-report questionnaires combined with review of medical charts (n = 10). Prevalence ranged between 0.9 and 77.0% for (localized) musculoskeletal pain (n = 19) and between 0.6 and 67.5% for RMDs in general (n = 39). Prevalence rates of specific type of RMDs ranged between 0.7 and 47.5% for gout, between 3.3 and 11.0% for rheumatoid arthritis and between 2.8 and 75.4% for osteo-arthritis (n = 14). Heterogeneity with regard to documentation of (symptoms of) RMDs in medical data of nursing home residents was high., Conclusion: The overall prevalence of (symptoms of) RMDs varied to a great extent. This was mainly due to large heterogeneity in documentation of (symptoms of) RMDs. Establishing agreement on a useful and practical classification may ultimately increase identification of RMDs in the nursing home setting., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: SA: None. IK: None. AB: consultancy fees from UCB, Lilly, Novartis, Sandoz and Galapagos. Research grants from Abbvie and Celgene. JS: None. MO: consultancy fees Novartis, Pfizer. Research grant from Pfizer. Ethical approval and Informed consent: This study is a systematic literature review of existing publications. We have not collected any new data or examined patients ourselves. Therefore, no ethical approval or informed consent has been obtained., (© 2024. The Author(s).) more...