Women's health issues with fibromyalgia syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) involves multiple sensory, somatic, and cognitive symptoms that are bound to affect or be affected by physical and mental health status and behavioral components of daily life.


METHODS
From a telephone survey of 442 women with and 205 women without FMS as volunteers, data were compared on (1) general health status, (2) reproductive and sleep-related diagnoses, and (3) lifestyle health behaviors.


RESULTS
All multiple or logistics regression analyses for group differences were controlled for age, body mass index (BMI), race, employment status, marital status, having a college degree, low household income, and having ever been diagnosed with depression, with a Bonferroni p value correction for multiple indicators. Accordingly, FMS negatively impacted both perceived physical and mental health status, although relatively more so for physical (p < 0.017). Women with FMS were more likely to have had reproductive health or sleep-related diagnoses, including premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea, breast cysts, bladder cystitis, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and abnormal leg movements (p < 0.0125). They were calculated to use less than half as many calories per week as control women (689 +/- 1293 vs. 1499 +/- 1584 kcal/week, p < 0.05) and had more sleep pattern difficulties (p < 0.0125), more negative changes in sexual function (greater odds for 5 of 10 indicators at p < 0.005), and lower alcohol use (odds ratio = 0.39, p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with FMS deserve careful assessment for reproductive conditions and sleep-related functional disorders. Besides more research into mechanisms underlying symptoms, intervention testing specifically to alleviate sleep problems, low physical activity levels, and sexual dysfunction should be paramount.
Shaver
Joan L F
JL
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, Illinois, USA. jshaver@uic.edu
Wilbur
Joellen
J
Robinson
F Patrick
FP
Wang
Edward
E
Buntin
Mary S
MS
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D047688:Breast Cyst / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003556:Cystitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D011293:Premenstrual Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013577:Syndrome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health