ArticleThe Journal of rheumatology2019
Primary and Secondary Fibromyalgia Are The Same: The Universality of Polysymptomatic Distress.
Article in The Journal of rheumatology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brazilian Society of Rheumatology's fibromyalgia treatment guidelines - part I: monitoring and non-pharmacological management.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2026Guideline
- Racial Disparities in Pain Among Women with Fibromyalgia: Secondary Data Analysis of Severity, Interference with Function, and Response to Guided Imagery.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2023Trial
- [Fibromyalgia syndrome].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- XR body illusion for managing pain in fibromyalgia: examining optimal duration.Virtual reality · 2026Article
- Seasonal variation influences fibromyalgia severity in terms of widespread pain among female patients: data from a large national registry.Clinical rheumatology · 2025Article
- Whole-Body Photobiomodulation Therapy Propels the Fibromyalgia Patient into the Recomposition Phase: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Fibromyalgia and mental health in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional prevalence study from the COVID-19 pandemic.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Association ofPain research & management · 2023Article
- Fibromyalgia influences health-related quality of life and disease activity in psoriatic arthritis.Rheumatology international · 2022Article
- Association among Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI) and Fibromyalgia: A Prospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Article
- Review
- Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the German Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI-GE).BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2021Article
- Medical cannabis for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome: a retrospective, open-label case series.Journal of cannabis research · 2021Article
- Fibromyalgia: Recent Advances in Diagnosis, Classification, Pharmacotherapy and Alternative Remedies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
- Performance of 2016 revised fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Rheumatology international · 2019Article
- Fibromyalgia and small fiber neuropathy: the plot thickens!Clinical rheumatology · 2018Review
- Article
- Sociodemographic Characteristics and Comorbidities of Primary Fibromyalgia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingObservational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePolysymptomatic distress (PSD) is the underlying metric of fibromyalgia (FM), and levels of PSD can identify criteria-positive FM with > 90% accuracy. We used levels of the PSD scale to test whether symptom levels in primary FM (PFM) and secondary FM (SFM) were the same and whether symptoms were equivalent in persons not meeting FM criteria.
methodsWe studied 1525 patients with a clinical diagnosis of FM and 12,037 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We used regression models to compare patients with potential and actual PFM to RA patients with potential and actual SFM for 17 key clinical variables.
resultsWhen controlled for PSD values, the widespread pain index, symptom severity scale, and pain, global, quality of life, and physical and mental component scores were essentially the same or only slightly different in PFM and SFM. Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index scores were slightly higher in SFM (0.21 units), as was the painful joint count (1.6 joints). Overall, higher PSD scores were associated with more severe symptoms or abnormal status. PSD scores in patients not satisfying FM criteria and in patients satisfying criteria operated similarly.
conclusionPFM and SFM are equivalent regarding symptom burden. PSD scores are more informative about severity and severity within diagnosis than dichotomization into FM/non-FM. Studies of FM versus "healthy individuals," or FM versus other diseases, are inherently defective, while studies of FM and PSD in RA offer the opportunity to have meaningful comparison groups, because there are no readily available unbiased appropriate controls for PFM.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.