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Number of Fibromyalgia Tender Points Is Associated with Health Status in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
SOMCHAI AKKASILPA, DANIEL GOLDMAN, LAURENCE S. MAGDER, and MICHELLE PETRI
ABSTRACT. Methods. We performed a cross-sectional study of 173 SLE patients enrolled in the Hopkins Lupus Cohort. Patients were examined for FM TP and asked to complete the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) at the same visit. Results. We found 38.2% of patients had no TP, 44.5% had 1–10 TP, and 17.3% had ≥ 11 TP. No significant association was found between the number of FM TP and age, sex, race, or level of education. The mean score of the HAQ was 1.3 ± 0.4. There were significant associations between FM TP and HAQ (no TP 1.1 ± 0.3, 1–10 TP 1.4 ± 0.4, ≥ 11 TP 1.6 ± 0.6; p = 0.0001). Conclusion. A strong association between the number of FM TP and health status was found in patients with SLE. The number of TP, and not just the presence/absence of FM, is associated with health status in SLE. (J Rheumatol 2005;32:48-50) Key Indexing Terms:
SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
From the Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; and Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Dr. Petri is supported by National Institutes of Health grant RO1 AR43727. The Hopkins Lupus Cohort is supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NIH) MO1-RR00052. Fibromyalgia studies were supported by the Maryland Arthritis Foundation. S. Akkasilpa, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University; D. Goldman, PhD; M. Petri, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; L.S. Magder, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland. Address reprint requests to Dr. M. Petri, Division of Rheumatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 East Monument Street, Suite 7500, Baltimore, MD 21205. E-mail: mpetri@jhmi.edu Submitted June 17, 2003; revision accepted August 30, 2004. |