[Value of the self-evaluation of functional and painful disorders for the differentiation between fibromyalgia and inflammatory rheumatic diseases].
The authors sought to determine whether the self-report questionnaire developed by L.F. Callahan and T. Pincus is of use for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia when severe and/or chronic pain raises doubts as to an inflammatory rheumatic disease. This questionnaire evaluates the ratio between pain severity assessed on a visual analog scale and impairment of activities of daily living. High values suggest fibromyalgia, whereas low values occur in rheumatoid arthritis patients. The French translation of the questionnaire was completed by 15 fibromyalgia patients and 22 patients with inflammatory arthritic syndrome of whom 15 had rheumatoid arthritis. Mean pain/impairment ratio was 5.85 +/- 0.68 (SEM) in the fibromyalgia group versus 3.01 +/- 0.38 in the inflammatory rheumatism group. This difference was highly significant (p = 0.001 by Student's t test). The rheumatoid arthritis subgroup was also significantly different from the fibromyalgia group (p = 0.003). These findings are very similar to those reported by Callahan and Pincus. Our data confirm the value of this simple self-evaluation tool. In practice, ratios greater than 5 suggest fibromyalgia whereas ratios under 3 support the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.
Renoux
M
M
Service de Rhumatologie A, Hôpital Cochin, Paris.
Hilliquin
P
P
Menkès
C J
CJ
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D001168:Arthritis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Interet de l'auto-evaluation des troubles fonctionnels et douloureux pour la distinction entre fibromyalgie et rhumatisme inflammatoire.