Table 2.

Definitions of general fatigue reported in the included reviews

Included reviews*	Year of publication	Review type	Population	Reported definitions of fatigue in the included reviews†
Seifert et al	2019	NR	RMDs	An overwhelming, debilitating and sustained sense of exhaustion that decreases the ability to function and carry out daily activities.
Dupond et al2	2011	NR	RMDs	Perceiving an inability and surrendering to it.
Stebbings et al11	2010	NR	RA and OA	Extreme tiredness, typically resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness. A subjective, unpleasant symptom which incorporates total body feelings, ranging from tiredness to extreme exhaustion, creating an unrelenting overall condition which interferes with an individual’s ability to function to their normal capacity.
Marrelli et al12	2018	NR	RA	A state of exhaustion and decreased strength accompanied by a feeling of weariness, sleepiness and irritability, with a cognitive component.
Balsamo et al	2014	NR	RA	The enduring sensation of weakness, lack of energy, tiredness or exhaustion.
Rosen et al	2016	NR	SpA (PsA)	An overwhelming, sustained sense of exhaustion and decreased capacity for physical and mental work.
Hackney et al	2019	NR	OA	An overwhelming, debilitating and sustained exhaustion that decreases one’s ability to carry out daily activities, including the ability to work effectively and to function at one’s usual level in family or social roles.
Casale et al	2011	NR	FM	A transient phenomenon caused by physical activity and which lead to an inability to maintain the requisite or expected force. An acute impairment in performances that includes both an increase in the perceived effort necessary to exert a desired force and an eventual inability to produce this force. A condition related to an exercise-induced reduction in the ability to produce force, which determines whether or not the task can be maintained. A state where one is drained of strength and energy: fatigued often to the point of exhaustion (task failure).

*Complete references are provided in online supplemental file S5, as well as definitions of different types of fatigue.

†Minor textual adaptations were made for consistency reasons.

FM, fibromyalgia; OA, osteoarthritis; PsA, psoriatic arthritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RMDs, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases; SpA, spondyloarthritis.