Table 1.
Main findings from studies of prevalence of personality disorders in patients with fibromyalgia
| Authors and year | Study characteristics | Personality disorders assessment instruments | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayhan et al. (2016) | A case-control study involved 96 female FM patients admitted to the outpatient Physical Therapy Unit of Mevlana University School of Medicine, Turkey, and 94 healthy women | Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II) | Of the 96 patients, 13 (13.5%) had a PD. The histrionic was the most common (10.4%) and was the only PD significantly more prevalent in the patient group than in the control group |
| Gumà-Uriel et al. (2016) | A cross-sectional study was performed using the baseline data of 216 FM patients (aged 18–75 years) participating in a randomized, controlled trial carried out in three primary health care centres situated in Barcelona, Spain | DSM-IV version of the International Personality Disorder Examination – Screening Questionnaire (IPDE-SQ) | Of the 216 participants in the study, 157 (72.7%) completed the IPDE-SQ and of these, 102 (65.0%) had a possible PD. The most prevalent PDs in the sample were: avoidant (41.4%), obsessive-compulsive (33.1%), borderline (27.0%), and schizoid (15.3%) |
| Fu et al. (2015) | The study sample consisted of 48 FM patients recruited by mailing, or handing out surveys in an outpatient rheumatology office in Syracuse, NY, USA | Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4 (PDQ-4) | 27 (56.3%) patients had a PD. Avoidant (27.1%) was the most common, followed by depressive (25.0%), paranoid (22.9%), and obsessive-compulsive (20.8%) |
| Garcia-Fontanals et al. (2014) | From an initial sample of 150 FM patients at the Rheumatology Department, Hospital CIMA Sanitas, Barcelona, Spain, the final sample consisted of 42 female FM patients (aged 32–63 yrs) and 38 healthy controls | Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) | A total of 36.0% of FM patients presented a possible psychometric diagnosis of PD, mainly from Cluster C (26.0%, n=11), although there were no significant differences from the control group |
| Pando Fernández (2011) | An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study involved 30 FM patients (aged 29–63 years) selected by the service of rheumatology of the Hospital General of Ciudad Real, Spain | ICD-10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) | 28 (93.3%) patients had a PD. Obsessive-compulsive (anankastic) (33.3%) was the most common, followed by avoidant (30.0%), schizoid (13.3%), and dependent (10.0%) |
| Uguz et al. (2010) | The study included 128 consecutive FM patients who admitted to rheumatology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Konya, Turkey. The final sample included 103 FM patients and 83 control subjects | Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II) | Any PD (31.1% versus 13.3%), obsessive-compulsive (23.3% versus 3.6%), avoidant (10.7% versus 2.4%), and passive-aggressive (10.7% versus 2.4%) PDs were significantly more common in the patient group compared to the control group |
| Cerón Muñoz et al. (2010) | A cross-sectional descriptive study in an urban Primary Care centre in Barcelona, Spain, was performed selecting 132 FM patients (aged⩾18 years) | ICD-10 International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) | Of the 132 participants in the study, 121 (91.7%) completed the IPDE that was positive in 96.7% of the sample. The more frequent PDs were: histrionic (71.9%), obsessive-compulsive (71.1%), borderline (emotionally unstable) (66.1%), and avoidant (61.9%) |
| Rose et al. (2009) | 30 FM outpatients were examined consecutively by the consultation-liaison psychiatric service of the Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire and of the Saint-Philibert Hospital in Lille, France | Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SCID-II) | 46.7% received at least one diagnosis of PD, including obsessive-compulsive (30.0%), borderline (16.7%), depressive (16.7%), and avoidant (13.3%) |
| Thieme et al. (2004) | 115 female FM patients (aged 21–68 years) were recruited from rheumatologic outpatient departments as well as from a Hospital for Rheumatic Disorders at Berlin-Buch, Germany | Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SCID-II) | PDs were found to be present in 8.7% of patients, 5.25% borderline, and 1.75% revealing either an avoidant or dependent PD |
| Martinez et al. (1995) | 47 female FM patients (aged 21–65 years) and 25 random selected control patients were studied at the General Medical and Rheumatology Out-patient Clinic of the Conjunto Hospitalar de Sorocaba, Brazil | Schneider’s method for the diagnosis of personality disorders | 63.8% of the FM patients and 8.0% of the control group had a PD, respectively, and the comparison was statistically significant |
FM=fibromyalgia; PD=personality disorder.