An Epidemiologic Internet Survey of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain in Japan

Abstract

Objective. To determine the epidemiologic features and symptom characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) in Japan, and compare them with those for other chronic pain (CP) diagnoses.Methods. An internet survey was conducted in June and July 2011. The questionnaire consisted of 111 questions, including assessments of the Japanese version of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for FM, the Japanese Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, and additional questions regarding pain and lifestyle. Results. The questionnaire was completed by 20,407 male and female respondents in all prefectures of Japan. Of the survey population, 2,524 respondents (12.4%) reported symptoms consistent with CP; of these, 425 (2.1%) reported symptoms consistent with FM. Among respondents with FM and CP, 61% and 53%, respectively, were women. Pain severity and Widespread Pain Index scores were significantly higher in respondents meeting the diagnostic criteria for FM than in those meeting the criteria for CP. In terms of symptom severity scores, the proportions of respondents reporting the 3 major symptoms as "highly applicable" and greater numbers of 41 somatic symptoms were higher among respondents with FM than among those with CP. The incidence of FM in the present survey was similar to that reported (1.7%) in a study of FM in Japan in 2003, despite the use of the newer, easier to use 2010 diagnostic criteria. Conclusion. Because FM usually presents with more severe and more widely distributed pain, as well as more nonpainful symptoms than CP, our results suggest that FM is a different clinical phenotype of CP.

Fibromyalgia: A Critical and Comprehensive Review

“…As mentioned earlier, patients with FMS often associate both the onset and the exacerbation of their symptoms with stressful experiences [72,167]. Indeed, there is experimental evidence that acute stress increases pain hypersensitivity and the level of spontaneous pain in patients with FMS, but not in controls [565][566][567].…”

“…At least half of the FMS patients who participated in internet surveys in the USA or Japan felt that their symptoms had been triggered by chronic stress or emotional trauma [72,167]. The majority of these studies lack proper controls and often lead to misleading or incorrect conclusions.…”

“…At least 75 % of FMS patients report fatigue [4,167,168] and, as mentioned earlier, there is considerable overlap between FMS and CFS in population-based and clinical samples [62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. Patients with FMS complain of significantly higher levels of fatigue compared not only to healthy controls, but also compared to patients with other rheumatic diseases [85,169], but FMS patients show significantly greater day-to-day variability in fatigue [85].…”

Sleep disturbances in fibromyalgia syndrome: the role of clinical and polysomnographic variables explaining poor sleep quality in patients

“…Depending on the diagnostic criteria and population studied, the prevalence of FMS ranges from 1.1% to 6.4%, being more common among perimenopausal and postmenopausal women [3][4][5]. FMS has a severe negative impact on the quality of life [6], and, therefore, FMS patients very frequently use health-care systems [7].…”

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for fibromyalgia syndrome

“…Estimates of the prevalence of fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1990 classification criteria in the general European population ranged from 2.1% to 2.9% (Branco 2010) and was 2.0 % in Wichita, USA (Wolfe 1995). The prevalence of fibromyalgia according to the research criteria was 2.1% in the general German (Wolfe 2013) and Japanese population (Nakamura 2014). People with fibromyalgia use a wide range of different types of drugs and non-pharmacological therapies (Bennett 2007; Häuser 2012a; Marschall 2011).…”