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Development and validation of the Fibromyalgia Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST)
Serge Perrot1, Didier Bouhassira, Jacques Fermanian
1INSERM U 987, Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Boulogne-Billancourt, F-92100, France Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, F-75001, France Paris Descartes University, F-75005 Paris, France Service de Biostatistiques, Hôpital Necker, F-75005 Paris, France.
The Fibromyalgia Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST) is a new, simple questionnaire designed to quickly identify fibromyalgia syndrome in patients with chronic pain. It demonstrates high accuracy in distinguishing fibromyalgia from other rheumatic conditions.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Pain Management
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex condition characterized by widespread chronic pain.
- Accurate and timely diagnosis of FMS is crucial for effective patient management.
- Existing diagnostic methods can be time-consuming, necessitating simpler screening tools.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a self-completed questionnaire, the Fibromyalgia Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST).
- To create a tool for the early detection of fibromyalgia syndrome in patients presenting with diffuse chronic pain.
- To assess the psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy of the FiRST.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, multicenter study involving 162 patients with chronic pain.
- Patients included those diagnosed with fibromyalgia (n=92) and other rheumatic conditions (n=70).
- Univariate and multivariate analyses (stepwise logistic regression) were used to identify key discriminant items and assess validity and reliability.
Main Results:
- The final FiRST questionnaire consists of six items.
- A cut-off score of 5 positive items yielded an 87.9% overall correct identification rate.
- The tool demonstrated high sensitivity (90.5%) and specificity (85.7%) for detecting fibromyalgia.
Conclusions:
- The Fibromyalgia Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST) is a brief, simple, and effective self-administered questionnaire.
- FiRST possesses excellent discriminative value for identifying fibromyalgia syndrome.
- This tool holds significant potential for use in both daily clinical practice and research settings for fibromyalgia screening.
