title: Dimensions of psychological dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia: development of an Italian questionnaire.
abstract: Our objective was to observe whether dysfunctional psychological dimensions of pain could be detected in fibromyalgia patients through the development of a new questionnaire. An original questionnaire composed of 51 items was given to 250 patients (185 females and 65 males, mean age 55+/-12.8 years) suffering from chronic fibromyalgia according to the criteria of the Multicenter Criteria Committee of the American College of Rheumatology. A Varimax computerized program of factorial analysis with orthogonal and oblique rotation of the axes was used to analyze the data. Five strong independent factors were identified: 1) catastrophizing and 2) external control beliefs (cognitive); 3) alexithymia (emotional); 4) restless behavior (behavioral); and 5) need for support (relational). Our questionnaire is a preliminary development of an Italian language psychological characterization of FM patients which may be a relevant and useful tool for the evaluation of the outcome of clinical/psychological treatment of FM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, University of Florence, Villa Monna Tessa, Viale Pieraccini 18, 50139, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colangelo
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertinotti
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nacci
authors.forename: Maria Letizia
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Conforti
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beneforti
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pignone
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matucci-Cerinic
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zoppi
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires