THE FIBROMYALGIA IMPACT QUESTIONNAIRE, A SWEDISH TRANSLATION OF A NEWTOOL FOR EVALUATION OF THE FIBROMYALGIA PATIENT

The American Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) was translated in to Swedish. The FIQ is a brief 10-item self-administered instrument de signed to evaluate the special problems bothering fibromyalgia patient s. After the translation procedure, 73 Swedish women fibromyalgia pati ents answered the translated FIQ. The questionnaire was fast and simpl e to handle both for the patients and the investigators. There was a g ood level of correspondence between FIQ items and related items in the Health Assessment Questionnaire, the Nottingham Health Profile and th e Psychological General Well-Being Index. There were no significant di fferences in a test-retest analysis. The study has provided evidence t hat the translated and slightly modified Swedish version of the Americ an Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire has the validity and sensitivity to be able to function as a relevant and comprehensible tool to monito r FMS-patients.