Who Gets Fibromyalgia and Why?

Abstract Until recently, nobody knew how many people had fibromyalgia. Several surveys suggest that while 2 percent of the adult U.S. population have full-blown fibromyalgia (3.5 percent of adult women and 0.5 percent of adult men), 11 percent have chronic widespread pain and 20 percent have chronic regional pain. Recently, Dr. Larry Bradley at the University of Alabama has found that for every diagnosed fibromyalgia patient in the United States, there is an undiagnosed individual who has the requisite tender points, but never seeks medical attention for this. This has been termed community fibromyalgia. A survey in Great Britain found that 13 percent of the population had chronic widespread pain, 72 percent of whom sought medical attention for it. Of those, 21 percent fulfilled the ACR criteria for fibromyalgia. In other words, of individuals with chronic neuromuscular pain, less than half have diagnosed fibromyalgia or community fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is the third or fourth most common reason for consulting a rheumatologist. Approximately 15–20 percent of all patients seeking rheumatology referrals have fibromyalgia. The 5,000 rheumatologists in the United States who are trained in internal medicine and subspecialize in managing more than 150 musculoskeletal and immune system disorders are very familiar with the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia.