DSM-III diagnoses of patients with myofascial pain syndrome (fibrositis)

Rheumatology centers report that chronic pain patients with myofascial pain (fibrositis) are prone to psychiatric pathology. However, the distribution of DSM-III diagnoses in this population in unknown. This distribution is reported for 238 chronic pain patients with fibrositis. Statistical comparisons of men and women were also made with regard to the prevalence of each diagnosis, and the results were compared to published DSM-III diagnoses prevalence data for mixed chronic pain patients and rheumatology fibrositis patients. In our sample, women with fibrositis were equally as likely as men with fibrositis to have current depression. Within the general chronic pain population, women are more likely to have current depression. The incidence of current major depression and current and past major depression was much lower in our fibrositis sample than that reported by rheumatology programs. These results indicate that there may be psychiatric differences between chronic pain patients with and without fibrositis. Fibrositis patients in rheumatology programs may also be psychiatrically different from chronic pain program patients with fibrositis.