• Banafsheh Ghavidel-Parsa, Ali Bidari, Alireza A Maafi, Amir Hassankhani, Asghar Hajiabbasi, Ali Montazeri, Omid Sanaei, and Babak Ghalehbaghi.
• Rheumatology Research Center, Razi Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
• Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2016 Mar 1; 34 (2 Suppl 96): S134-9.

ObjectivesTo compare fibromyalgia (FM) core symptoms, FM impact severity and health status between the recently defined type A and type B of fibromyalgia. To compare disease impact and health status between FM patients and non-FM chronic pain control group. Finally, to compare health related quality of life and disease symptom severity by demographic background and widespread pain index (WPI).MethodsA total of 284 consecutive FM patients and 96 non-FM control patients were enrolled. The information of four questionnaires including the Fibromyalgia Survey Questionnaire (FSQ), the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and questionnaires regarding demographic features were collected from a local FM registry.ResultsOf all FM patients, 102 (94%) and 7 (6%) were type A and B, respectively. We found statistically significant differences in symptomatology, the FIQ scores and the SF-12 subscales across two type and control groups (p<0.001). However, when we compared these scores pairwise, except WPI there were no significant differences in other scores between type A and B. Also, there were no significant differences in FIQ and SF-12 scores across different age or educational status groups. Interestingly, patients with higher WPI had significantly higher FIQ (overall, symptom, and total) scores, worse PCS-12 and MCS-12 scores, and vice versa.ConclusionsType B constitutes a minor but important component of FM that probably has a marked impact on the patient's perceived illness severity and quality of life. Further, WPI probably is the most important single indicator of disease severity and quality of life in FM.

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