Journal
PAIN MEDICINE
Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages 33-41Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2004.04003.x
Keywords
fibromyalgia; posttraumatic stress disorder; pain; stress
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective. To test alternative explanations for the comorbidity between fibromyalgia (FM), a medically unexplained syndrome involving widespread pain, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In contrast to a default risk factor hypothesis, tested hypotheses were that: A) The association is due to a sampling bias introduced by the study of care-seeking individuals; B) FM is an additive burden that strains coping resources when confronting life stress; and C) Arousal symptoms of PTSD and FM are confounded. Design. Community-dwelling women in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area (N=1,312) completed a telephone survey regarding FM-like symptoms prior to September 11, 2001. Approximately 6 months after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, they again completed the survey, to which questions regarding PTSD symptoms were added. Results. The odds of probable PTSD were more than three times greater in women with FM-like symptoms, both assessed after 9/11. The odds ratio was not reduced by controlling for FM-like symptoms before 9/11 or for the potentially confounded symptoms of PTSD specifically related to arousal. Conclusions. These findings lead us to reject alternate explanations for the comorbidity between FM and PTSD. Speculations that FM and PTSD share psychobiological risk factors remain plausible.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available