Typical practice for managing patients with fibromyalgia

Background. Fibromyalgia (FM) is manifested by chronic widespread pain syndrome, sleep disorders, fatigue and subjective cognitive impairment. There is a late diagnosis of FM in different countries; there is no data on the typical medical practice of managing patients with FM in our country.

Aim. To analyse the previous typical practice of managing patients with FM.

Materials and methods. Fifty three patients with FM (47 women and 6 men) were under observation; the average age was 46.8±14.6 years. The duration of FM symptoms (years), the intensity of pain syndrome according to a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), quality of life using The Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), emotional state according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and treatment were evaluated.

Results. The duration of symptoms before the diagnosis of FM was 7.0 (2.0–15.0) years. The intensity of pain during the initial examination in patients with FM according to NRS – 7.1±1.9 points, the effect on the quality of life of patients with FM according to FIQR – 54.9±18.4 points. The majority of patients (85%) were not diagnosed with FM before hospitalization. There were no statistically significant differences in the intensity of pain (p=0.478), the level of quality of life (p=0.611), the level of anxiety (0.159) and depression (0.347) in the groups of patients who had or did not have a diagnosis of FM.

Conclusion. FM is rarely diagnosed in our country, even in cases of diagnosis, patients in many cases do not receive effective treatment, which reflects the low awareness of doctors about modern methods of diagnosis and treatment of FM.