title: "The complaining women": health professionals' perceptions on patients with fibromyalgia in Spain.
abstract: The aim of this study is twofold: (1) to explore health service providers' perceptions regarding fibromyalgia patients in Spain and (2) to analyze possible consequences of these perceptions in terms of how health service providers construct the disease and treat their patients.
  
  
  
  Qualitative study.
  
  
  
  Twelve health service providers (eight men, four women) involved in the care of fibromyalgia patients. Providers were from different disciplines and included general practitioners, rheumatologists, occupational doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, physiotherapists and behavioral specialists from Spain.
  
  
  
  We performed individual semistructured interviews, which were recorded and transcribed to conduct a qualitative content analysis supported by Atlas.ti-7.
  
  
  
  We identified three categories from the interviews: (1) the fibromyalgia patient prototype: the complaining woman, (2) fibromyalgia is considered a women's health issue, but male patients are a privileged minority, and (3) health professionals' attitudes toward fibromyalgia patients: are they really suffering or pretending?
  
  
  
  The uncertainty surrounding fibromyalgia together with the fact that those affected are primarily women, seem to influence professional practice in terms of lack of recognition of Fibromyalgia as a severe disease. Increased training of all health professionals is essential to improving the support and attention given to patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Implications for rehabilitation   Fibromyalgia   • In order to improve fibromyalgia patients´ attention, health providers should learn how to assist patients without prejudices.   • Training programs for health providers should include sensitization about the severity of fibromyalgia.   • Health providers should be aware of the existence of stereotypes about women suffering from fibromyalgia.   • Fibromyalgia protocols should give skills to health providers to avoid offering a gender-biased attention to patients.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty and Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy , University of Lleida , Lleida , Spain.|b Public Health Research Group of Alicante University , Alicante , Spain.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Briones-Vozmediano
authors.affiliation: d Umeå Center for Gender Studies, Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.|e Epidemiology and Global Health, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Öhman
authors.affiliation: b Public Health Research Group of Alicante University , Alicante , Spain.|e Epidemiology and Global Health, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goicolea
authors.affiliation: b Public Health Research Group of Alicante University , Alicante , Spain.|c Community Nursing, Preventive Medicine and Public Health and History of Science Department. Alicante University , Alicante , Spain.|f Centre for Biomedical Research on Epidemiology and Public Health. CIBERESP , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vives-Cases
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012737:Sex Factors; D057545:Social Stigma; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: Fibromyalgia; gender; illness and disease; patient-provider relationships; qualitative research; social construction; women’s health