title: Pain and other symptom severity in women with fibromyalgia and a previous hysterectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fibromyalgia is a troubling disease characterized by chronic pain. This study explored whether pain and other fibromyalgia symptoms are worse among women who had undergone a hysterectomy with or without an oophorectomy versus those who had not.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive women who were seen at the Fibromyalgia Treatment Program at a tertiary medical center between 2001 and 2004 and who completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) at initial evaluation were included in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 813 women were included; 328 had had a hysterectomy. Total FIQ scores from women who had had a hysterectomy were higher (worse symptoms) than those who had not (58.1 vs 56.4, P = 0.002). FIQ subscale scores of pain (P = 0.003), fatigue (P = 0.030), stiffness (P = 0.035), and depression (P = 0.008) were also worse in women who had had a hysterectomy. Similar to the FIQ, SF-36 physical component scores were worse in women who had had a hysterectomy (P = 0.045).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pain and other fibromyalgia symptom severity was worse in women who had had a hysterectomy with or without an oophorectomy.
authors: Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors: Ann
authors: A
authors: Vincent
authors: Mary O
authors: MO
authors: Whipple
authors: Connie A
authors: CA
authors: Luedtke
authors: Terry H
authors: TH
authors: Oh
authors: Richa
authors: R
authors: Sood
authors: Robin L
authors: RL
authors: Smith
authors: Aminah
authors: A
authors: Jatoi