title: A cross-sectional study of the relationship between body mass index and clinical characteristics, tenderness measures, quality of life, and physical functioning in fibromyalgia patients.
abstract: We examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and measures of tenderness, quality of life, and physical functioning in female fibromyalgia (FMS) patients. A random sample of 100 female FMS patients from a database of 550 FMS individuals was interviewed and assessed according to a structured questionnaire that included FMS-related symptoms, measures of tenderness (point count and dolorimetry), quality of life (SF-36), physical functioning, and BMI. Weight was defined as normal, overweight, and obesity according to BMI. Twenty-seven percent of the FMS patients had normal BMI, 28% were overweight, and 45% were obese. BMI was negatively correlated with quality of life (r = -0.205, P = 0.044) and tenderness threshold (r = -0.238, P = 0.021) and positively correlated with physical dysfunctioning (r = 0.202, P = 0.047) and point count (r = 0.261, P = 0.011). Obese FMS patients display higher pain sensitivity and lower levels of quality of life. In designing studies that explore factors affecting tenderness, BMI should be included in addition to sex, age, etc.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel. lily@bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Lily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Ella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Glazer
authors.forename: Arkady
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bolotin
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shefer
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Buskila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D010146:Pain; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index