Psychiatric and psychologic aspects of fibromyalgia syndrome

Most previous psychologic and psychiatric studies of patients with fibromyalgia have utilized instruments that do not control for pain and therefore may be falsely interpreted as indicative of increased depression, hysteria, or hypochondriasis. Future studies must utilize psychiatric techniques that take into account a coexistent medical condition and such evaluation should include patients with varying levels of severity of fibromyalgia symptoms and utilization of health care.