Dietary Intake Assessment, Severity of Symptoms, and Pain in Women with Fibromyalgia

A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess dietary intake in 92 FMS compared to 96 healthy control patients and to examine the potential associations between daily intake and pain and the severity of symptoms in women with FMS. The tender point count (TPC), the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) were assessed. FIQ-R correlated negatively with phosphorus (r = -.230, p = .028), iron (r = -.320, p = 0.002), zinc (r = -.238, p = .023), vitamin B1 (r = -.218, p = .038), vitamin B6 (r = -.123, p = .012), folic acid (r = -.250, p = .017), and vitamin C (r = -.217, p = .039). A negative correlation was also found between VAS pain and the intake of vitamin B6 (r = -.322, p = .002). Lower intakes of certain micronutrients correlated with higher scores in FIQ-R and a lower intake of vitamin B6 correlated with higher scores in VAS pain, supporting the potential relevance of these micronutrients in the severity of symptoms and in levels of global pain in FMS women.

Automated summary

The study revealed that lower intake of certain micronutrients in the diet of women with fibromyalgia correlated with higher symptom severity and pain levels, emphasizing the potential relevance of these micronutrients in the condition.