Session Information
Session Title: Fibromyalgia, Soft Tissue Disorders, Regional and Specific Clinical Pain Syndromes: Clinical Focus
Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)
Background/Purpose: Fibromyalgia patients identify stress as a factor in aggravating their pain and other symptoms. We administered a questionnaire to fibromyalgia patients to try to identify a difference between various kinds of stress and the effect on fibromyalgia symptoms.
Methods: Patients in a fibromyalgia office practice completed a questionnaire including various types of stresses: family, financial, job, health issues, marital, other. All patients met the 2010 ACR criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Results: 91 patients responded regarding which stresses affect their fibromyalgia the greatest.
As expected, concern regarding health issues was the greatest stress, (6.64), followed by family stress (5.81), job stress (5.55), money stress (4.69), and marital stress (4.01).
Conclusion: Stress is reported by many fibromyalgia patients as aggravating their symptoms. Aside from health related concerns, family and job stress had the highest visual analog scale ratings as to the impact on fibromyalgia pain and related symptoms. Sometimes the rheumatologist or nurse needs to act as a psychotherapist, allowing the patient to ventilate and to discuss symptoms, but also areas of stress. Understanding the impact of various stresses on fibromyalgia symptoms may assist clinicians in dealing with patients who have fibromyalgia.
Disclosure:
R. S. Katz,
None;
A. Small,
None;
J. L. Polyak,
None.
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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/which-stresses-bother-fibromyalgia-patients-most/