title: The 2010 American college of rheumatology fibromyalgia survey diagnostic criteria and symptom severity scale is a valid and reliable tool in a French speaking fibromyalgia cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fibromyalgia (FM) is a pain condition with associated symptoms contributing to distress. The Fibromyalgia Survey Diagnostic Criteria and Severity Scale (FSDC) is a patient-administered questionnaire assessing diagnosis and symptom severity. Locations of body pain measured by the Widespread Pain Index (WPI), and the Symptom Severity scale (SS) measuring fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, cognitive and somatic complaints provide a score (0-31), measuring a composite of polysymptomatic distress. The reliability and validity of the translated French version of the FSDC was evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The French FSDC was administered twice to 73 FM patients, and was correlated with measures of symptom status including: Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ), and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for global severity and pain. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Test-retest reliability was between .600 and .888 for the 25 single items of the FSDC, and .912 for the total FSDC, with all correlations significant (p < 0.0001). There was good internal consistency measured by Cronbach's alpha (.846 for FSDC assessment 1, and .867 for FSDC assessment 2). Construct validity showed significant correlations between the FSDC and FIQ 0.670, HAQ 0.413, MPQ 0.562, global VAS 0.591, and pain VAS 0.663 (all p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The French FSDC is a valid instrument in French FM patients with reliability and construct validity. It is easily completed, simple to score, and has the potential to become the standard for measurement of polysymptomatic distress in FM.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. mary-ann.fitzcharles@muhc.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Mary-Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fitzcharles
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ste-Marie
authors.forename: Pantelis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Panopalis
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ménard
authors.forename: Yoram
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shir
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wolfe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires