Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Fibromyalgia

Honing fibromyalgia diagnosis

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 10, pages 267–269 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Most rheumatologists recognize the characteristic presentation of fibromyalgia in everyday clinical practice, but for other clinicians diagnosis can be difficult because of poor understanding of the nature of the condition and lack of familiarity with important clinical features. Simple and accurate criteria are essential to improve the study and management of fibromyalgia.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wolfe, F. et al. The American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia and measurement of symptom severity. Arthritis Care Res. 62, 600–610 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wolfe, F. et al. Fibromyalgia criteria and severity scales for clinical and epidemiological studies: a modification of the ACR preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. J. Rheumatol. 38, 1113–1122 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bennett, R. et al. Criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia: validation of the modified 2010 preliminary ACR criteria and the development of alternative criteria. Arthritis Care Res. (Hoboken) http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acr.22301.

  4. Smythe, H. A. & Moldofsky, H. Two contributions to understanding of the “fibrositis” syndrome. Bull. Rheum. Dis. 28, 928–931 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Yunus, M., Masi, A. T., Calabro, J. J., Miller, K. A. & Feigenbaum, S. L. Primary fibromyalgia (fibrositis): clinical study of 50 patients with matched normal controls. Semin. Arthritis Rheum. 11, 151–171 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wolfe, F. et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Report of the Multicenter Criteria Committee. Arthritis Rheum. 33, 160–172 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Goldenberg, D. L. Fibromyalgia syndrome. An emerging but controversial condition. JAMA 257, 2782–2787 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bennett, R. M. et al. The revised fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQR): validation and psychometric properties. Arthritis Res. Ther. 11, R120 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wolfe, F., Walitt, B. T., Katz, R. S. & Hauser, W. Symptoms, the nature of fibromyalgia, and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (DSM-5) defined mental illness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. PLoS ONE 9, e88740 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Brummett, C. M. et al. Survey criteria for fibromyalgia independently predict increased postoperative opioid consumption after lower-extremity joint arthroplasty: a prospective, observational cohort study. Anesthesiology 119, 1434–1443 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Rheumatology and Medicine, Monash Health and Monash University, Suite H, Private Consulting Rooms, Monash Medical Centre, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton, 3168, Vic, Australia

    Geoffrey Littlejohn

Authors
  1. Geoffrey Littlejohn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geoffrey Littlejohn.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Littlejohn, G. Honing fibromyalgia diagnosis. Nat Rev Rheumatol 10, 267–269 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2014.48

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2014.48

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing