Physical and sexual abuse in female patients with fibromyalgia

Sexual and physical abuse during childhood seem to be common. The purpose o f this study was to determine the prevalence of sexual and physical abuse r eported by female fibromyalgia (FM) patients in a referral-based rheumatolo gy practice, and whether patients with FM report greater frequencies of abu se than do patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients from two tertiary care centers, 205 with FM and 84 with RA, were m ailed a self-administered questionnaire requesting information about demogr aphics, mental health care use, and history of sexual and/or physical abuse . There were responses from 105 FM and 44 RA patients. A history of sexual or physical abuse was reported by 54% of the sample. An y type of abuse was significantly more prevalent among patients with FM (62 %) compared with those with RA (34%, p = 0.02). FM patients had a significa ntly increased prevalence of both sexual abuse (51% vs. 32%, p = 0.028) and physical abuse (39 vs. 16%, p = 0.006) compared with RA patients. FM patie nts were more likely than RA patients to report a history of multiple sexua l abusers, increased duration of sexual abuse, and more violent physical ab use. Irritable bowel syndrome was more common in FM (44%) than RA patients (9%, p < 0.001), and 57% of FM patients had seen a mental health profession al compared with 30% of RA patients (p = 0.002). These data suggest that sexual or physical abuse is a frequently reported e xperience in FM patients. An inquiry about sexual or physical abuse should be considered in female patients with FM. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether psychological treatment of sexually abused FM patients w ill decrease symptoms and healthcare use.