• Karen G Raphael, Malvin N Janal, Sangeetha Nayak, Joseph E Schwartz, and Rollin M Gallagher.
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. raphaekg@umdnj.edu
• Pain. 2006 Sep 1; 124 (1-2): 117-25.

AbstractPrior studies of careseeking fibromyalgia (FM) patients often report that they have an elevated risk of psychiatric disorders, but biased sampling may distort true risk. The current investigation utilizes state-of-the-art diagnostic procedures for both FM and psychiatric disorders to estimate prevalence rates of FM and the comorbidity of FM and specific psychiatric disorders in a diverse community sample of women. Participants were screened by telephone for FM and MDD, by randomly selecting telephone numbers from a list of households with women in the NY/NJ metropolitan area. Eligible women were invited to complete physical examinations for FM and clinician-administered psychiatric interviews. Data were weighted to adjust for sampling procedures and population demographics. The estimated overall prevalence of FM among women in the NY/NJ metropolitan area was 3.7% (95% CI=3.2, 4.4), with higher rates among racial minorities. Although risk of current MDD was nearly 3-fold higher in community women with than without FM, the groups had similar risk of lifetime MDD. Risk of lifetime anxiety disorders, particularly obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, was approximately 5-fold higher among women with FM. Overall, this study found a community prevalence for FM among women that replicates prior North American studies, and revealed that FM may be even more prevalent among racial minority women. These community-based data also indicate that the relationship between MDD and FM may be more complicated than previously thought, and call for an increased focus on anxiety disorders in FM.

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