Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Clustering-based stratification of fibromyalgia subtypes: A comparative analysis of medicated and non-medicated cohorts from two academic centers
Authors' conclusion
Fibromyalgia is characterized by three reproducible, clinically interpretable phenotypes that demonstrate substantial similarity across medication-status
Study context
- Population
- Adults meeting the 2016 ACR criteria for fibromyalgia (FM), two academic centres
- Participants
- 558 adults
- Exposure
- Patients not receiving vs receiving centrally acting medications at the time of assessment
- Outcome
- FM symptom phenotypes (clusters)
Methodological detailstwo academic centres, cluster analysis (hierarchical clustering, k-means, principal component analysis, heatmap visualization)
- Two academic centres
- Cluster analysis (hierarchical clustering, k-means, principal component analysis, heatmap visualization)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- A consistent three-cluster solution emerged
- Cluster 1: low-severity phenotype with relatively preserved function
- Cluster 2: prominent affective-sleep dysregulation with moderate pain and sensitization
- Cluster 3: high-severity/global impairment phenotype across all symptom domains
- Phenotypes appeared in both medicated and unmedicated subgroups
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Clustering-based stratification of fibromyalgia subtypes: A comparative analysis of medicated and non-medicated cohorts from two academic centers. Semin Arthritis Rheum. Published 29 June 2026. doi:10.
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