Link Between Fibromyalgia Pain And Weather Not Borne Out

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> Link Between Fibromyalgia Pain And Weather Not Borne Out

>

> 02/12/2002

> By Harvey McConnell

> A widespread belief that pain levels in patients with fibromyalgia

> predict worsening weather has not been borne out with clinical scrutiny.

> A statistically significant relationship between fibromyalgic pain and

> the weather was not found in a study by Dr Egil Fors and colleagues at

> the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Medicine, Ostmarka

> Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.

> At the same time, the investigators said: " It is possible that a group

> of patients with less chronic fibromyalgia might be weather sensitive. "

> Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) often report that weather conditions

> influence their pain. " In fact, weather sensitivity is a minor

> criterion for the diagnosis of FM, " the investigators add.

> It is has been doubted that patients with rheumatism can predict the

> weather from their pain, although patients have reported this and the

> claim has been scientifically studied since the 19th century. Studies

> have found increased pain in arthritic conditions among patients living

> in a poor climate, as well as correlation of rheumatoid arthritic

> pain with temperature and relative humidity.

> Dr Fors enrolled 55 women, ranging, aged from 21 and 68, who had had

> confirmed fibromyalgia from between three and 45 years. The women rated

> their pain levels, using a validated and reportedly accurate scoring

> system known as a visual analogue scale, for 28 days.

> Official meteorological readings were taken at 1400 hours every day of

> the study.

> The researchers found that women who had had fibromyalgia for under 10

> years were more sensitive to weather changes than women who had been in

> constant pain for longer. Overall, weather changes did not

> significantly predict pain levels either on the same or next day, or

> vice versa.

> There was no evidence of a causal effect. The researchers also double

> checked the two days with the greatest degree of weather change to see

> if there was any noticeable effect on pain scores. No significant pain

> level changes were recorded.

> The clinicians note that high subjective pain sensitivity and low

> thresholds for pain perceptions are common features in patients with

> FM. " However, we did not find any influence of the initial levels of

> anxiety and depression or the corresponding personality traits on the

> relationship between FM pain and the weather. "

> Dr Fors and colleagues conclude: " The anecdotal beliefs about a

> directional relationship between FM pain and the weather do not find

> support in our study. The effect size calculations show that if

> relationships did exist and we did not detect them, they are probably

> of little clinical relevance. "

> ls of the Rheumatic Diseases 2002;61:247-50.

>