Posted by MERM on 6/21/2008, 11:14 am
1/Psychosocial factors in fibromyalgia compared with rheumatoid arthritis:
OBJECTIVE: Two recent reports have found associations between fibromyalgia and sexual victimization, but had methodologic characteristics that limited their interpretation.
METHOD: We compared 36 patients with fibromyalgia and 33 patients with rheumatoid arthritis by using structured interviews for sexual, physical, and emotional victimization histories, as well as dimensional self-report measures of victimization severity.
RESULTS: Compared with the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, those with fibromyalgia had significantly higher lifetime prevalence rates of all forms of victimization, both adult and childhood, as well as combinations of adult and childhood trauma.
Although childhood maltreatment was found to be a general risk factor for fibromyalgia, particular forms of maltreatment (eg, sexual abuse per se) did not have specific effects.
Experiences of physical assault in adulthood, however, showed a strong and specific relationship with unexplained pain.
Trauma severity was correlated significantly with measures of physical disability, psychiatric distress, illness adjustment, personality, and quality of sleep in patients with fibromyalgia but not in those with rheumatoid arthritis.
CONCLUSIONS: Fibromyalgia seems to be associated with increased risk of victimization, particularly adult physical abuse. Sexual, physical, and emotional trauma may be important factors in the development and maintenance of this disorder and its associated disability in many patients.
2/prevalence of sexual abuse in women with fibromyalgia
OBJECTIVE. To determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in women diagnosed as having fibromyalgia (FM) compared with controls.
METHODS. A self-administered questionnaire designed to obtain information regarding demographics, health care utilization, and history of sexual and physical abuse was completed by 40 women with FM and by 42 women who had no evidence of connective tissue disease or other major medical condition.
RESULTS. Women with FM reported more physical symptoms and were significantly different on multiple indices of health compared with controls. Twenty-six FM subjects (65%) reported sexual abuse, in comparison with 22 controls (52%). The prevalence and type of abuse were not significantly different between groups. Sexually abused FM subjects reported significantly more symptoms than did non-sexually abused FM women, but did not differ in the number of symptoms for which they sought medical treatment.
CONCLUSION. Sexual abuse does not appear to be a specific factor in the etiology of FM, but is correlated with the number and severity of associated symptoms.
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