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Joint Hypermobility Sometimes Misdiagnosed As Fibromyalgia
A DGReview of :"Joint Hypermobility and Primary Fibromyalgia: A Clinical Enigma"
Journal of Rheumatology
07/13/2000
By Elda Hauschildt
Patients with clinical symptoms for fibromyalgia but who do not exactly meet the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) diagnostic criteria for the syndrome could actually have joint hypermobility.
These patients may be misdiagnosed as having fibromyalgia.
Researchers also conclude that widespread pain is associated with joint hypermobility in women less than 50 years of age. Some of these patients do fulfill ACR tender-point criteria for fibromyalgia.
This study included 88 patients admitted to hospital with widespread pain and 90 matched, healthy controls. Investigators blindly evaluated all participants for the presence of both joint hypermobility and fibromyalgia.
Results indicate that 56 of the patients initially recognized as having fibromyalgia met the ACR diagnostic criteria for the syndrome. Six healthy controls also met the ACR criteria for fibromyalgia.
Frequency of a diagnosis of joint hypermobility was 8 per cent among the fibromyalgia patients and 6 per cent among the control participants.
Joint hypermobility was also found in 10 of 32 patients (31 per cent) who did not exactly meet the ACR fibromyalgia criteria.
"Occurrence of joint hypermobility was more common in these patients compared to controls," the researchers report.
Overall, 16 per cent of patients with widespread pain were found to have symptoms associated with joint hypermobility.
"Joint Hypermobility and Primary Fibromyalgia: A Clinical Enigma"
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