Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1993 Jul;52(7):494–496. doi: 10.1136/ard.52.7.494

Joint hypermobility and fibromyalgia in schoolchildren.

A Gedalia 1, J Press 1, M Klein 1, D Buskila 1
PMCID: PMC1005086  PMID: 8346976

Abstract

OBJECTIVES--To test the hypothesis that joint hypermobility may play a part in the pathogenesis of pain in fibromyalgia, schoolchildren were examined for the coexistence of joint hypermobility and fibromyalgia. METHODS--The study group consisted of 338 children (179 boys, 159 girls; mean age 11.5 years, range 9-15 years) from one public school in Beer-Sheva, Israel. In the assessment of joint hypermobility, the criteria devised by Carter and Bird were used. Any child who met at least three of five criteria was considered to have joint hypermobility. Children were considered to have fibromyalgia if they fulfilled the 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, namely, widespread pain in combination with tenderness of 11 or more of the 18 specific tender point sites. The blind assessments of joint hypermobility (by AG) and fibromyalgia (by DB) were carried out independently. RESULTS--Of the 338 children 43 (13%) were found to have joint hypermobility and 21 (6%) fibromyalgia; 17 (81%) of the 21 with fibromyalgia had joint hypermobility and 17 (40%) of the 43 with joint hypermobility had fibromyalgia. Using chi 2 statistical analysis, joint hypermobility and fibromyalgia were found to be highly associated. CONCLUSIONS--This study suggests that there is a strong association between joint hypermobility and fibromyalgia in schoolchildren. It is possible that joint hypermobility may play a part in the pathogenesis of pain in fibromyalgia. More studies are needed to establish the clinical significance of this observation.

Full text

PDF
494

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Buskila D., Press J., Gedalia A., Klein M., Neumann L., Boehm R., Sukenik S. Assessment of nonarticular tenderness and prevalence of fibromyalgia in children. J Rheumatol. 1993 Feb;20(2):368–370. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gedalia A., Person D. A., Brewer E. J., Jr, Giannini E. H. Hypermobility of the joints in juvenile episodic arthritis/arthralgia. J Pediatr. 1985 Dec;107(6):873–876. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(85)80178-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gedalia A., Press J. Articular symptoms in hypermobile schoolchildren: a prospective study. J Pediatr. 1991 Dec;119(6):944–946. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(05)83051-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goldenberg D. L. Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of fibromyalgia. Hosp Pract (Off Ed) 1989 Sep 30;24(9A):39–52. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kirk J. A., Ansell B. M., Bywaters E. G. The hypermobility syndrome. Musculoskeletal complaints associated with generalized joint hypermobility. Ann Rheum Dis. 1967 Sep;26(5):419–425. doi: 10.1136/ard.26.5.419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lewkonia R. M. Hypermobility of joints. Arch Dis Child. 1987 Jan;62(1):1–2. doi: 10.1136/adc.62.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Walco G. A., Ilowite N. T. Cognitive-behavioral intervention for juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome. J Rheumatol. 1992 Oct;19(10):1617–1619. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Yunus M. B., Masi A. T. Juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome. A clinical study of thirty-three patients and matched normal controls. Arthritis Rheum. 1985 Feb;28(2):138–145. doi: 10.1002/art.1780280205. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Yunus M. B. Towards a model of pathophysiology of fibromyalgia: aberrant central pain mechanisms with peripheral modulation. J Rheumatol. 1992 Jun;19(6):846–850. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES