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Fibromyalgia patients reported more sensory, nonsensory symptoms than RA, OA patients
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Patients with fibromyalgia reported more sensory and nonsensory symptoms compared with patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, according to study results.
Researchers studied 11,288 patients; 1,199 had fibromyalgia (mean age, 57.8 years; 95.8% women), 8,533 had rheumatoid arthritis (RA; mean age, 62.3 years; 80.6% women), and 1,556 had osteoarthritis (OA; mean age, 66.5 years; 81.7% women). Patients with fibromyalgia also were more likely to smoke and to be obese.
Somatic symptoms were divided into sensory, including hearing difficulties, and evaluative nonsensory symptoms, including easy bruising and hair loss. Also included was influenza vaccination, a nonsymptom that was neutral for psychological content or meaning. Logistic regression was used to adjust data for age and sex.
Fibromyalgia patients had greater hearing difficulties (36.2%) compared with RA and OA patients (21.4% and 24.1%, respectively), hair loss (23.4% vs. 18.1% and 15.8%) and easy bruising (47.6% vs. 41.5% and 38.5%). Influenza vaccination was less common in fibromyalgia patients (57.1%) compared with RA (63.6%) and OA (60.9%) patients. The probability of sensory and nonsensory symptoms was similar across all rheumatic diseases when controlled for fibromyalgianess (fibromyalgia intensity). Fibromyalgianess was not associated with influenza vaccine between all groups.
“The associations between fibromyalgia/fibromyalgianess and evaluative [nonsensory] symptoms must occur through mechanisms other than central sensitization and augmentation, and are consistent with over-reporting that has a psychological basis,” the researchers concluded. “However, augmentation of sensory symptoms does not preclude simultaneous over-reporting. … Symptoms linked to fibromyalgia are identified across the entire spectrum of fibromyalgia, and do not require a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.”
Disclosure: Researcher Winfried Häuser, MD, reports receiving a consultancy honorarium for study design from Daiichi Sankyo.
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