Table 2.
Clinical features and symptom severity of Chinese fibromyalgia patients
| Characteristics | Cohort (N = 124) | Female (N = 107) | Male (N = 17) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain VAS scorea (mean (SD)) | 55.9 (22.2) | 56.2 (21.7) | 54.1 (25.5) | 0.72 |
| NRS gradeb (n (%)) | 0.20 | |||
| NRS-Mild pain | 38 (30.6) | 31 (29.0) | 7 (41.2) | |
| NRS-Moderate pain | 56 (45.2) | 52 (48.6) | 5 (29.4) | |
| NRS-Severe pain | 30 (24.2) | 24 (22.4) | 5 (29.4) | |
| MAF-GFI scorec (mean (SD) | 38.4 (8.9) | 33.7 (8.6) | 31.8 (10.7) | 0.43 |
| MAF-GFI gradec (n (%)) | 1.00 | |||
| Severe fatigue | 87 (70.2) | 75 (70.1) | 12 (70.6) | |
| Fatigue | 37 (29.8) | 32 (29.9) | 5 (29.4) | |
| PSQI scored (mean (SD)) | 11.0 (4.2) | 10.9 (4.0) | 11.5 (5.3) | 0.69 |
| PSQI graded (n (%)) | 0.17 | |||
| Better sleep | 11 (8.9) | 8 (7.5) | 3 (17.6) | |
| Good sleep | 47 (37.9) | 43 (40.2) | 5 (29.4) | |
| Fair sleep | 42 (33.9) | 38 (35.5) | 4 (23.5) | |
| Very poor sleep | 24 (19.4) | 18 (16.8) | 5 (29.4) | |
| BDI-II scoree (mean (SD)) | 9.4 (6.4) | 9.7 (6.5) | 7.5 (5.9) | 0.21 |
| BDI-II gradee (n (%)) | 0.50 | |||
| No depression | 31 (25.0) | 25 (23.4) | 6 (35.3) | |
| Mild depression | 27 (21.8) | 22 (20.6) | 5 (29.4) | |
| Moderate depression | 41 (33.1) | 37 (34.6) | 4 (23.5) | |
| Severe depression | 25 (20.2) | 23 (21.5) | 2 (11.8) | |
| PSS scoref (mean (SD)) | 25.0 (9.4) | 24.9 (9.4) | 25.2 (9.4) | 0.91 |
| PSS gradef (n (%)) | 0.81 | |||
| Mild stress | 78 (62.9) | 67 (62.6) | 11 (64.7) | |
| Moderate severe stress | 44 (35.5) | 39 (36.4) | 6 (35.3) | |
| Severe stress | 2 (1.6) | 2 (1.9) | 0 (0.0) | |
| FIQ total scoreg (mean (SD)) | 49.7 (15.1) | 49.0 (15.0) | 54.7 (15.0) | 0.16 |
| FIQ gradeg (n (%)) | 0.24 | |||
| Severe | 10 (8.1) | 7 (6.5) | 3 (17.6) | |
| Moderate | 24 (19.4) | 21 (19.6) | 3 (17.6) | |
| Mild | 90 (72.6) | 79 (73.8) | 11 (64.7) | |
| SF-36h (mean (SD)) | ||||
| Physical functioning | 60.9 (23.0) | 60.5 (22.4) | 63.2 (27.0) | 0.65 |
| Role physical | 27.0 (35.4) | 27.3 (36.1) | 25.0 (31.9) | 0.80 |
| Pain index | 39.7 (17.8) | 39.3 (17.8) | 41.8 (18.1) | 0.61 |
| General health perceptions | 28.7 (17.3) | 28.7 (17.1) | 28.5 (18.9) | 0.97 |
| Vitality | 34.6 (19.3) | 34.8 (19.1) | 33.5 (20.8) | 0.80 |
| Social functioning | 56.9 (24.9) | 57.9 (24.7) | 50.0 (25.4) | 0.22 |
| Role emotional | 51.3 (45.3) | 55.1 (45.8) | 27.5 (33.8) | 0.006 |
| Mental health index | 47.2 (23.0) | 48.2 (22.5) | 40.6 (25.9) | 0.21 |
| PCS | 32.5 (16.7) | 32.5 (16.7) | 32.2 (16.7) | 0.94 |
| MCS | 48.8 (20.9) | 50.4 (21.0) | 39.3 (18.5) | 0.043 |
| WPIi (mean (SD)) | 10.8 (4.7) | 11.1 (4.7) | 8.6 (3.9) | 0.038 |
| SSSj (mean (SD)) | 7.6 (2.5) | 7.4 (2.6) | 8.7 (1.8) | 0.06 |
| FSk (mean (SD)) | 18.3 (5.7) | 18.5 (5.9) | 17.2 (4.6) | 0.40 |
MAF-GFI Global Fatigue Index of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue, PSQI Scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; BDI-II Beck II Depression Inventory, PSS Perceived Stress Scale, FIQ Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, SF-36 Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire, PCS physical component score, MCS mental component score, WPI widespread pain index, SSS symptom severity scale, FS fibromyalgia severity scale
aPain VAS is a measurement for body pain. Scores range from 0 to 100 mm, with higher scores indicating greater pain
bThe NRS allows a person to describe the intensity of his/her pain as a number ranging from 0 to 10. 0 = no pain, 1–3 = mild pain, 4–6 = moderate pain, 7–9 = severe pain and 10 = bad as it could be
cMAF-GFI measures fatigue severity scoring from 0 to 50, with higher scores indicating greater fatigue severity. MAF-GFI score of 30 points was used to define clinically severe fatigue
dPSQI measures sleep quality. Scores on the PSQI range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating worse sleep quality. The cut-off scores for PSQI are: 1–5 points = “very little compromise of sleep quality,” 6–10 = “good sleep quality,” 11–15 = “fair sleep quality” and 16–21 = “very poor sleep quality”
eBDI-II assesses the severity of depressive symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of depression severity. The cut-off scores for BDI-II are: 0–4 points = “no relevant depressive symptoms,” 5–7 = “mild depressive symptoms,” 8–15 = “moderate depressive symptoms” and 16–39 = “severe depressive symptoms”
fPSS measures the perception of stress and current levels of experienced stress. Scores range from 0 to 56, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of symptom severity. The cut-off scores for PSS are: 0–28 points = “mild stress,” 29–42 = “moderately severe stress” and 43–56 = “severe stress”
gFIQ assesses fibromyalgia symptoms and function domains. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms. The cut-off scores for FIQ are: 0–58 points = “mild fibromyalgia,” 59–69 points = “moderate fibromyalgia” and 70–100 = “severe fibromyalgia”
hSF-36 is a self-administered, 36-item questionnaire that assesses the physical and mental quality of life. The physical and mental component summaries can be combined ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status
iThe WPI is a part of 2010c and 2016c that measures the number of body pain points ranging from 0 to 19, with higher scores indicating more pain points
jThe SSS is a part of 2010c and 2016c that evalutes fibromyalgia symptom severity ranging from 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating more pain. The SSS includes four parts (in italics): the fatigue, waking unrefreshed and cognitive symptom severity as well as severity of somatic symptoms
kThe FS is the sum of the WPI and SSS, which is also called the polysymptomatic distress scale, and ranges from 0 to 31 with higher scores indicating worse fibromyalgia severity