The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Workforce
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Is Fibromyalgia Overdiagnosed?

Is Fibromyalgia Overdiagnosed?

October 10, 2016 • By Susan Bernstein

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF
Zerbor/shutterstock.com

Zerbor/shutterstock.com

Are too many patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia? The co-authors of one new study believe that close to 75% of patients who have received a clinical fibromyalgia diagnosis do not meet the 2010 Preliminary American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Criteria for Fibromyalgia.1 They say these patients are false-positive and may be taking treatments they don’t need.

You Might Also Like
  • Treat-to-Target Strategy Evaluated for Fibromyalgia Care
  • Many Doctors & Specialists Don’t Adhere to Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Criteria
  • Pain Links Fibromyalgia & RA
Explore This Issue
October 2016
Also By This Author
  • Active Advocacy in the Sunshine State: Florida Society Presses for Legislative Changes to Protect Patient Access to Medications

The paper, “Three-Quarters of Persons in the U.S. Population Reporting a Clinical Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia Do Not Satisfy Fibromyalgia Criteria: The 2012 National Health Interview Survey,” was published in PLOS One in June 2016.2

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Using information from the survey, which included data from 8,446 individuals weighted to represent 225,726,257 U.S. adults, the co-authors then developed “surrogate NHIS diagnostic criteria based on the level of polysymptomatic distress (PSD) as characterized” in the ACR criteria. The preliminary 2010 criteria are a standard for diagnosis of fibromyalgia, and the modified criteria published in 2011 are used as a mechanism for research, the paper states.

“Doctors often believe that they are able to recognize fibromyalgia without using the criteria,” says Brian Walitt, MD, MPH, one of the study’s authors. Dr. Walitt is a rheumatologist, and is a medical officer at the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C. They concluded that various factors, including patient demographics, may influence whether or not someone receives a fibromyalgia diagnosis.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Patients’ Role in Diagnosis

“Some patients take an active role in the diagnostic process, recognizing their symptoms as fibromyalgia and turning to physicians to confirm their suspicions and offer a plan for treatment,” says Dr. Walitt. “Advertisements for fibromyalgia medications provide a picture of what fibromyalgia is that is not accurate. This may influence how patients describe their symptoms and how doctors made diagnostic decisions.”

Others disagree with this study’s findings. Some patients may experience varying degrees of clinical symptoms during the course of their lives and may not meet the ACR criteria at a particular point in time, particularly if treatments have worked to ease symptoms, says Daniel Clauw, MD, a rheumatologist and professor of anesthesiology, medicine, and psychiatry at the University of Michigan Division of Pain Research in Ann Arbor.

“You’d expect some discordance in prevalence, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near where the PLOS One paper says it is,” says Dr. Clauw. He believes the PSD score developed for this study is invalid. He says he believes that “they did not have the right variables in place.” He continues, “Another problem is that the symptoms of fibromyalgia occur on a continuum. Even in a study where the methodology was done well, you’d expect a certain number of people diagnosed with fibromyalgia at some point in time, if they get treatment, to have improved symptoms. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t have fibromyalgia in the past.” The fibromyalgia criteria are more applicable in research than in clinical practice, he adds.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions Tagged With: Clinical, criteria, demographics, Diagnosis, Fibromyalgia, Pain, patient care, ResearchIssue: October 2016

You Might Also Like:
  • Treat-to-Target Strategy Evaluated for Fibromyalgia Care
  • Many Doctors & Specialists Don’t Adhere to Fibromyalgia Diagnostic Criteria
  • Pain Links Fibromyalgia & RA
  • Revising Fibromyalgia: One Year Later

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.