Fibromyalgia and abuse – more tailored interventions are needed

A high prevalence of abuse has been reported in people with fibromyalgia. Experts investigated the association between abuse history and symptom severity and quality of life in people with fibromyalgia, and reported their findings in Rheumatology International.
Of the 962 people with fibromyalgia, a total of 289 people reported a history of abuse. Of those who specified abuse types, 161 people (59%) reported more than one type of abuse (36% emotional, 32% physical, 25% sexual and 7% verbal).
People who had been abused tended to be younger and were more likely to be female, unemployed, unmarried and current smokers compared with those who reported no abuse. After adjusting for these differences, abuse history was associated with worse symptoms, work missed, pain, depression, anxiety and worse quality of life.
“Abuse history in patients with fibromyalgia was associated with worse symptoms and quality of life compared with those patients without abuse history,” the researchers conclude. “Future studies are needed to assess whether additional tailored interventions as part of fibromyalgia treatment are helpful for patients with a history of abuse.”

Click here to read the original article.

Image credit: Dendroica cerulea