The comparative burden of mild, moderate and severe Fibromyalgia: results from a cross-sectional survey in the United States

Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

Research

Michael McNett¹  Don Goldenberg²  Rebecca Baik³  Meghan Hufstader³  Caroline Schaefer³  Robert Gerwin⁴  Gergana Zlateva⁵  Arthi Chandran⁵ 

[1] APAC Centers for Pain Management, Chicago, IL, USA;Division of Rheumatology, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA, USA;Division of Rheumatology, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Covance Market Access Services Inc, Gaithersburg, MD, USA;Pain & Rehabilitation Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA;Primary Care Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Pfizer Global Health Economics, New York, NY, USA;

关键词: Fibromyalgia;    Quality of Life;    Patient Outcomes Assessment;    Burden of Illness;    Health Resources;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7525-9-71

 received in 2011-04-19, accepted in 2011-08-22,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic, widespread pain, fatigue, and other symptoms; yet few studies have comprehensively assessed its humanistic burden. This observational study evaluates the impact of FM severity on patients' symptoms, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and productivity in the United States.Methods203 FM subjects were recruited from 20 physician offices. Subjects completed a questionnaire including the EuroQol 5D (EQ-5D), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF), Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale (MOS-SS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and questions about demographics, pain and other symptoms, HRQoL and productivity. FIQ total scores were used to define FM severity, with 0- < 39, 39- < 59, and 59-100, representing mild, moderate, and severe FM, respectively. Sites recorded subjects' clinical characteristics and FM treatment on case report forms using medical records. Summary statistics were calculated for continuous variables and frequency distributions for categorical variables. Differences across FM severity groups were evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis or Chi-square tests. Statistical significance was evaluated at the 0.05 level.ResultsMean (SD) age was 47.9 (10.9); 95% were female. Most (92%) were prescribed medication for FM; 24% and 66% reported moderate and severe FM, respectively. Mean (SD) scores were: 6.3 (2.1) for pain intensity; 0.35 (0.35) for EQ-5D; 30.7 (14.2) for MAF; 57.5 (18.4) for MOS-SS Sleep Problems Index; 10.2 (4.8) for HADS anxiety and 9.4 (4.4) for HADS depression. Subjects with worse FM severity reported significantly increased pain severity, HRQoL, fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety and depression (p < 0.001). Overall, 50% of subjects reported some disruption in their employment due to FM; this differed across severity levels (p < 0.001). Employed subjects missed a mean (SD) of 1.8 (3.9) workdays during the past 4 weeks; this also differed across severity levels (p = 0.03).ConclusionsFM imposes a substantial humanistic burden on patients in the United States, and leads to substantial productivity loss, despite treatment. This burden is higher among subjects with worse FM severity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Schaefer et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011