Background/Purpose: We investigated the severity of pain and other symptoms during childhood, before age 12 and before age 18, that might be related to fibromyalgia (FMS).

Methods: 115 FMS patients and 63 control patients with other rheumatic diseases answered a rheumatology office questionnaire that included questions about symptoms experienced before the ages of 12 and 18. Patients were asked to rate each symptom as 1 = no problem, 2 = seldom, 3 = occasional, 4 = moderate, and 5 = severe problem.  The chi-square test of association and Fisher’s exact test were used to compare percentages, and the Mann-Whitney test was done to compare FMS and control patients with respect to age and symptom severity ratings. A 0.05 significance level was used and all tests were two-sided.

Results: The mean age was 48.1 ±12.3 years for FMS patients and 50.7 ±13.6 for rheumatic disease control patients (p = 0.092). 81.7% of the FMS patients and 61.9% of the control patients were women (p = 0.004). FMS patients had significantly worse severity ratings than did control patients for the following symptoms before age 18 (all with p < 0.001): “growing pains” (FMS 2.1± 1.5 vs. controls 1.4± 0.9), sleep problems (FMS 2.3± 1.4 vs. controls 1.3± 0.9), fatigue (FMS 2.2 ± 1.4 vs. controls 1.4 ±0.9), concentration problems (FMS 2.3 ±1.4 vs. controls 1.5± 0.8), memory problems (FMS 2.2±1.5 vs. controls 1.4 0.8), anxiety (FMS 2.1 ±1.4 vs. controls 1.4± 1.0), headaches (FMS 2.7 ±1.4 vs. controls 1.6 1.0), stomach aches (FMS 2.3 ±1.4 vs. controls 1.3 ±0.8), and depressed mood (FMS 2.1± 1.3 vs. controls 1.3± 0.7).  Similar results were obtained for the same symptoms before age 12 (all with p< 0.022).

Conclusion:  Pain, sleep problems, fatigue, concentration, and memory complaints were reported to be more common before the ages of 18 and before 12 in FMS subjects. Though recall bias could be a limitation of this study, the data suggest that fibromyalgia patients frequently have symptoms in childhood. Other studies have suggested that fibromyalgia may be related to a trait (fibromyalgianess). This study points out that the vulnerability to this illess might be manifested early in life.