Abdurrahman ÇETİN, Mehmet Tahir GÖKDEMİR

Fatigue severity scale, fibromyalgia impact questionnaire, and visual pain scale scores in patients with fibromyalgia

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical and laboratory results of antinuclear antibodies (ANA)-positive and ANA-negative patients. In addition, it is also intended to determine the fatigue severity scale (FSS), fibromyalgia (FM) impact questionnaire (FIQ), and visual pain scale (VAS) scores in patients with FM in terms of sex and to determine the correlation between them.Material and Methods: A total of 97 patients with FM aged >18 years were included in this retrospective study. Clinical characteristics such as age, sex, and FSS, FIQ, and VAS scores of patients with adequate records and who received a diagnosis of FM through Fibromyalgia Questionnaire Diagnostic Criteria and Severity Scale were analyzed at the physical therapy clinic at our hospital.Results: Of the 97 patients with FM, 88 (90%) were females and 9 (0.92%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 36.71 ± 9.11 years. The mean age of ANA-positive patients was significantly higher than the ANA-negative patients (P = 0.011). Mean level of Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) in ANA-positive and ANA-negative patients was 59.18 ± 8.56 and 69.98 ± 24.20, respectively, and the difference between them was significant (P = 0.006). Mean FSS and VAS scores were 57.66 ± 4.89 and 6.33 ± 0.86 in males and 55.77 ± 5.69 and 6.63 ± 0.84 in females (P = 0.302, P = 0.310), respectively. Mean FIQ scores were significantly lower in females than in males (P = 0.034). FSS had a strong positive correlation with VAS (r = 0.538, P < 0.001) and FIQ (r = 0.692, P < 0.001).Conclusions: In conclusion, our study showed that an overwhelming majority of patients with FM comprise females, which is consistent with the literature. Mean FIQ scores were significantly lower in females than in males. In our study, the mean age of ANA-positive patients was significantly higher than that of ANA-negative patients. The FSS, VAS, and FIQ scores of ANA-positive patients were similar to those of ANA-negative patients.

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