LONG-TERM COURSE OF FIBROMYALGIA - RETROS PECTIVE STUDY

In a retrospective study, a long-term course of fibromyalgia was inves tigated after at least 10 years since the diagnosis was established. T he prognosis was found to be unfavourable in the majority of cases. Th irty-three out of 50 cases examined (66%) were found to still suffer f rom fibromyalgia. In other patients, both spontaneous pain as well as functional and vegetative symptoms were present, but there were signif icant differences in severity compared to the group of patients with f ibromyalgia. The age of the patients was not related to the outcome of the disease. On the contrary, psychosocial factors and physical activ ity seem to play a role in this connection.