Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients and healthy control subjects
| Patients | Controls | ||
| Fibromyalgia | Chronic fatigue syndrome | ||
| Variable | (N = 68) | (N = 62) | (N = 46) |
| Age (years) | 31.43 ± 7.81 | 32.55 ± 6.61 | 31.54 ± 6.86 |
| Disease duration (years) | 3.96 ± 4.23 | 4.28 ± 4.12 | - |
| FIQ score | 59.23 ± 10.28 | - | 12.83 ± 7.21 |
| Pain intensity (VAS) | 5.03 ± 1.18 | 4.49 ± 1.83 | 0.47 ± 0.880 |
| Tender point count | 13.18 ± 1.79 | 6.49 ± 3.51 | 3.49 ± 2.81 |
| Symptoms experienced [No. (%)] | |||
| Morning stiffness | 42 (62) | 24 (39) | 3 (7) |
| Muscle spasm | 39 (57) | 15 (24) | 2 (4) |
| Fatigue | 48 (71) | 62 (100) | 4 (9) |
| Skinfold tenderness | 56 (82) | 29 (47) | 2 (4) |
| Sleep disturbance | 54 (79) | 27 (44) | 2 (4) |
| Cigarette smoking | 31 (46) | 30 (48) | 26 (57) |
| Menstrual cycle | |||
| Age at menarche | 12.91 ± 0.28 | 13.02 ± 0.25 | 13.14 ± 0.21 |
| Cycle length (days) | 13.14 ± 0.21 | 28.87 ± 0.19 | 29.07 ± 0.27 |
| Days of menstrual flow | 4.82 ± 0.36 | 4.97 ± 0.28 | 4.89 ± 0.32 |
| Marital status [No. (%)] | |||
| Married | 45 (66) | 39 (63) | 28 (61) |
| Single | 13 (20) | 14 (23 | 10 (23) |
| Divorced | 7 (12) | 6 (10) | 4 (9) |
| Other | 3 (2) | 3 (4) | 3 (7) |
| Highest educational level achieved [No. (%)] | |||
| Elementary school | 31 (46) | 30 (48) | 20 (44) |
| Secondary school | 15 (22) | 13 (21) | 13 (28) |
| University/High school | 22 (32) | 19 (31) | 13 (28) |
| Employment status [No. (%)] | |||
| Unemployed | 5 (7) | 5 (8) | 3 (7) |
| Employed | 7 (10) | 5 (8) | 7 (15) |
| Retired | 3 (4) | 4 (6) | 2 (4) |
| Homemaker | 39 (58) | 37 (60) | 24 (52) |
| Student | 11 (16) | 8 (13) | 7 (15) |
| Others | 3 (5) | 3 (5) | 3 (7) |
Values are means ± standard deviation, except where indicated as number and percentage of the group. FIQ, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire; VAS: Visual Analog Scale; -, not applicable.