Fibromyalgia: clinical presentation and variants of the disease

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a condition characterized by generalized pain syndrome and by the presence of fatigue, cognitive impairment, affective and multiple somatic symptoms. Pain syndrome can have national, ethnic, gender, and age characteristics.
Objective: to evaluate the features of the course of FM in a large industrial center of the Russian Federation and to present its phenotypic options.
Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 92 FM patients (8 men, 84 women) aged 18 to 86 years (mean age, 50.5 years). The diagnosis was established according to the 2016 ACR criteria. Account was taken of data on disease duration, occupation, sport training loads, previous therapy, pain intensity, and somatic symptoms according to the 2010 ACR diagnostic criteria and on general health assessment in the patients. All the patients completed the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS).
Results and discussion. The most significant somatic symptoms in the clinical picture of FM were shown to be muscle pain and muscle weakness, the manifestations of irritable bowel syndrome and fatigue; moreover, the prevalence of many symptoms in people over 60 years of age was lower than that in younger patients. Female gender was an additional risk factor for increases in pain and cognitive impairment. The presence of concomitant depression verified by HADS was associated with a substantial deterioration of the clinical manifestations of FM. At the same time, professional activities and sports were found to be protective factors against a number of symptoms of FM. It was hypothesized that there were several FM phenotypes (anxious, anxiety-depressive, egocentric, and vascular ones).
Conclusion. The authors have demonstrated the features of the course of FM in a large industrial center of the Russian Federation and identified various disease phenotypes, which can be useful for determining the treatment policy for patients.

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