Quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome referred to clinic of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran

Background & Purpose: Fibromyalgia syndrome is a chronic disease with unknown etiology musculoskeletal pain and tender points throughout the body are numerous. The aim of this study was to measure quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome that referred to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation clinic in Baqiyatallah Hospital. Methods & Materials: Patients that referred to Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic by a trained physician were asked about diffuse chronic pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, age, body mass index, level of education and number of children. To assess quality of life, 36-SF questionnaire was used. Also to assess pain, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used. The same physician did a thorough physical examination with special attention to the tender points in order to diagnose fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Results: In the study of 59 patients referred to the Baqiyatallah hospital, the findings showed that there was statistically significant relationship between quality of life and pain (p=0.002), age (p=0.01), body mass index (p=0.04) and morning stiffness (p=0.001). However, there is no statistically significant relationship between level of education and quality of life (p=0.09). Also, according to the finding, all quality of life components, especially the physical components, is affected by Fibromyalgia syndrome. Conclusion: According to the study findings, the quality of life of fibromyalgia patients affected by multiple factors such as diffuse chronic pain, body mass index, age, morning stiffness.