Explicit and implicit experience of own’s body in painful musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases: A scoping review protocol of available quantitative and qualitative evidence

INTRODUCTION: Our body experience is organized at twofold levels: perceptual and cognitive-emotional. These higher-order processes are clearly different from the primary sensory processing of somatic stimuli (somatosensation). However, most of the available studies have mainly investigated the mechanisms of somatosensation. Moreover, disturbances of our body experience have been documented in some pathological conditions of interest for rehabilitative interventions, but their clinical role and relevance is yet to be clarified. Because in this field we have limited knowledge on perceptual and cognitive body experience, there emerges a need to better clarify this matter. The aim of the present scoping review is to systematically map this topic and to examine the magnitude and the nature of the available evidences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The scoping review will be performed following the six-stage methodology suggested by Arksey and O’Malley. Ten electronic databases will be investigated since their inception. The search strategy will be peer reviewed by PRESS 2015 Evidence-Based Checklist as a quality assurance step. All records retrieved will be screened by two independent reviewers. The Population, Concept, and Context method will be adopted for eligibility criteria and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses will be used for results reporting. Two reviewers with different background will perform the search process independently. One author will extract data, checked by a second reviewer checking the matching with the research questions and goals. Any disagreements will be solved by a third reviewer. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for scoping reviews. Dissemination will include submission to peer-reviewed journal and presentations in conferences in the area of rehabilitation.