Illness representations in women with fibromyalgia

In the US population, the prevalence of fibromyalgia is about 3.4% in women. For those who are affected, fibromyalgia is associated with significant limitations relating to quality of life, activity, and participation. Furthermore, fibromyalgia leads to serious socio-economic costs. The objective of the present paper is to describe the cognitive illness representations of women with fibromyalgia and to analyse their relationship to rehabilitation outcomes.

The outcome was measured using the SF-36 and fibromyalgia impact questionnaire. The illness perceptions were assessed using the Illness Perception Questionnaire - revised. The prediction of outcome was done using hierarchical multiple regression analyses.

N=245 patients are included in the sample. The patients attribute a multitude of symptoms to fibromyalgia and name numerous triggering factors. Illness representations are correlated with the illness impact at the beginning of rehabilitation and predict the outcome after the end of rehabilitation.

The fact that illness representations turn out to be predictors of outcome, even when the baseline health status is statistically controlled, highlights the relevance of the illness representations of patients with fibromyalgia. Therefore, effective and efficient methods should be developed for integrating patient's illness beliefs into the management of the illness as early as possible.