The Longitudinal Outcome of Fibromyalgia: A Study of 1555 Patients (original) (raw)

2011, The Journal of Rheumatology

Objective.To describe the diagnosis status and outcome of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM) by US rheumatologists.Methods.We assessed 1555 patients with FM with detailed outcome questionnaires during 11,006 semiannual observations for up to 11 years. At entry, all patients satisfied American College of Rheumatology preliminary 2010 FM criteria modified for survey research. We determined diagnosis status, rates of improvement, responder subgroups, and standardized mean differences (effect sizes) between start and study completion scores of global well-being, pain, sleep problems, and health related quality of life. (QOL)Results.The 5-year improvement rates were pain 0.4 (95% CI 0.2, 0.5), fatigue 0.4 (95% CI 0.2, 0.05), and global 0.0 (95% CI −0.1, 0.1). The standardized mean differences were patient global 0.03 (95% CI −0.02, 0.08), pain 0.22 (95% CI 0.16, 0.28), sleep problems 0.20 (95% CI 0.14, 0.25), physical component summary of the Short-form 36 (SF-36) 0.11 (95% CI −0....