Predictors of fibromyalgia range from headaches to sleeping problems
A new study in Finland has suggested that fibromyalgia could be predicted through symptoms related to regional pain, frequent headaches, persistent back/neck pain, sleeping problems, and excess weight.
In 1990 the American College of Rheumatology classified fibromyalgia as a syndrome using a criteria including a history of widespread pain and sensation of pain in at least 11 of 18 specific tender sites in the body.
For this large prospective twin-cohort study, published in MS Musculoskeletal Disorders, researchers at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, examined various potential predictors for fibromyalgia, as well as possible genetic factors assessed nine-15 years before the evaluation of fibromyalgia symptoms.
“Prospective population-based studies on the incidence and predictors of fibromyalgia are few, whereas many cross-sectional and tertiary clinic studies assess predictors. In a cross-sectional setting, the sequential relationship remains unclear, and one can only identify an association, not a prediction,” the authors say in their report.
A total of 8,343 people from the older Finnish Twin Cohort, who answered health questionnaires in 1975, 1981, and 1990, were included in the study. The researchers used results from the completed 1990 fibromyalgia questionnaires to identify three latent classes (LC): LC1 grouped people with no or few symptoms; LC2 those with limited symptoms; LC3 were people with abundant symptoms.
Researchers then examined common predictors for symptoms reported in each class using baseline data from 1975 and 1981 related to symptoms including headache/migraine, regional pain, sleeping problems, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and physical activity. They adjusted the results by taking into account gender, age, and education, and subjects with higher possibilities of fibromyalgia at baseline were not included in the analysis.
Results suggested that patients with abundant fibromyalgia symptoms (LC3) showed predictors related to regional pain, excessive weight, and sleeping problems. The most common non-genetic predictor symptoms were frequent headaches followed by persistent back and neck pain.
“Headache, back and neck pain, sleeping problems, and high BMI were predictors of fibromyalgia symptoms, predictors which may be connected. Sleeping problems and high BMI were influenced by familial factors. The intensity and persistence of regional pain was associated with increased risk for fibromyalgia symptoms,” say the authors.
In addition, researchers observed that, “Heritability plays an important role in fibromyalgia symptoms, but also in many of the predictors. Therefore, that headache and regional pain are predictors independent of family background is an important finding. Further studies must evaluate possibilities of preventing fibromyalgia by treatment and management of such predictors.”
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