In this procedure, patients are assessed using the widespread pain index which consists of dividing the body in to 19 different regions and patients report scores of how many regions are painful. There is also a symptom severity score which evaluates the severity of fatigue, unrefreshing sleep, and cognitive symptoms. The two studies are combined into a single self-report questionnaire which has a maximum score of 31.


Self-Report Questionnaire

One approach for diagnosing fibromyalgia in a patient with chronic widespread pain is testing 18 specific sites on the bodies surface. If 11 of the 18 specific sites are tender when touched, many doctors will place a diagnosis, but this method may be unreliable because healthy individuals can also be sensitive in these specific sites.


18 Tender Points Test

Doctors will generally try to rule out any other diagnosis that may be causing symptoms through a diagnostic work-up. If the chronic pain persists for more than 6 months and there is no evidence of another condition causing the symptoms that meet the fibromyalgia criteria, doctors will give the fibromyalgia diagnosis.


Other Criteria for Diagnosis

Fibromyalgia does not have a specific test for diagnosis, but usually patients need to meet certain requirements. Different doctors use different criteria to diagnose but usually try to rule out other disorders before giving this diagnosis.

University of Colorado at Denver

Fibromyalgia is an illness which presents itself as widespread and a variety of other impairing symptoms. This condition is classified under ‘diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue’ in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

Fibromyalgia

Rahman, A., Underwood, M., & Carnes, D. (2014). Fibromyalgia. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 348. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26514070

Fibromyalgia (Rahman, et al., 2014)

Häuser, W., Ablin, J., Fitzcharles, M.-A., Littlejohn, G., Luciano, J. V., Usui, C., & Walitt, B. (2015). Fibromyalgia. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2015.22

Fibromyalgia (Häuser et al., 2015)

There are no specific causes of the onset of fibromyalgia symptoms but the following have been found as triggers:

•	Genetics

•	Stressors

•	Infections


Possible Causes of Fibromyalgia

There is no "cure" for fibromyalgia but there are different treatments that help the different symptoms become more manageable. Some of the treatments include:

•	Physical therapy

•	Acupuncture 

•	Psychological therapies

•	Analgesics

•	Opioids

•	Antidepressants

•	Anticonvulsant drugs

•	A healthy lifestyle


Treatments for Fibromyalgia

There is no way to get exact statistics of the amount of people affected by fibromyalgia, but studies have found a few patterns in regard to who has a higher chance of receiving the diagnosis. The prevalence in the population is most likely lower than 2-4% in the United States.

Prevalence of Fibromyalgia in the U.S.

Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

In this experiment, the upper limb of patients was placed in cold water and a visual analogue scale was used to measure the degree of pain that was experienced.


Experimental Model of Pain in Fibromyalgia Patients


• chronic widespread pain and tenderness

• unrefreshing sleep or other problems with sleep

• feelings of physical exhaustion

• cognitive difficulties such as brain fog

• fatigue and a variety of other somatic and psychological symptoms.

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