The Bone and Joint Monitor Project was developed to quantify the
global burden of musculoskeletal conditions and develop
strategies for their prevention. Experts within the Monitor
Project have worked previously with officers at the World Health
Organization (WHO) to estimate morbidity and mortality
associated with rheumatic conditions. The present collaboration
seeks means of providing additional and more current burden
data. To develop recommendations for performing epidemiologi-cal
studies in sample populations with musculoskeletal conditions
and problems, accounting for determinants and consequences to
the individual and society. Recommendations have been developed
identifying the most relevant domains for measuring and
monitoring the various muscu-loskeletal conditions by review of
epidemiological data on occurrence, determinants and outcomes,
and by expert opinion. Instruments that measure these domains
were reviewed. The domains recommended follow the principles of
the WHO International Classification