Support, Health, and Fibromyalgia

Launched by SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · Nov 3, 1999

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

Next to osteoarthritis, FMS is the most common arthritis-related disease. Symptoms include musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, morning stiffness, and sleep disturbances. Fluctuating severity, pain, and frustration with the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment lead patients to continually seek help from health care professionals. There is no known cause or cure for this disease.

This study tests the effects of social support and education on the health and well-being of people with fibromyalgia (FMS). We recruited 600 adults with a confirmed diagnosis of FMS...

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • A diagnosis of fibromyalgia documented in medical records and confirmed using The American College of Rheumatology criteria for classification of FMS: (1) A history of widespread pain (pain on both sides of the body, above and below the waist, and present for at least 3 months). (2) Pain in 11 or more of 18 tender-point sites.
• • Patient willing to attend 10 weekly meetings and 10 monthly meetings.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients who do not meet ACR criteria for FMS described above.
• • Patients who cannot attend meetings once a week for 10 weeks and once a month for 10 months were excluded.

Trial Officials