Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Delay in fibromyalgia diagnosis and its impact on the severity and outcome: a large cohort study
Authors' conclusion
Delayed diagnosis is associated with poorer patient outcomes, including worsening severity.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) (2016 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria) in the Italian Fibromyalgia Registry, residents of the Marche Region92.2% female
- Participants
- 616 patients
- Exposure
- Early vs late vs very late diagnosis of FM
- Early diagnosis (ED)n = 169reference
- Late diagnosis (LD)n = 320
- Very late diagnosis (VLD)n = 127
- Outcome
- FM severity (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), FASmod, Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PDS)) by time to diagnosis
Methodological detailsregistry-based (Italian Fibromyalgia Registry)
- Registry-based (Italian Fibromyalgia Registry)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
PDS score
ED
13.36
median · IQR 7.00–20.00
LD
16.09
median · IQR 9.00–22.00
VLD
23.00
median · IQR 18.25–26.00
- Significant difference in disease severity in all clinimetric indices with increasing time to diagnosis
- P = 0.000001
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Delay in fibromyalgia diagnosis and its impact on the severity and outcome: a large cohort study. Clin Exp Rheumatol. Published 4 July 2024. doi:10.
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