Fibromyalgia in Indian patients with SLE

One hundred and fifty-eight patients with SLE were prospectively studied at a tertiary referral centre in India to ascertain the prevalence and clinical profile of fibromyalgia (FM) in Indian patients with lupus. An attempt was made to determine whether socio-demographic factors or disease characteristics differ in SLE patients with and without FM. Only 13 patients (8.2%) in our cohort were found to have fibromyalgia. Their clinical profiles were similar to that reported in other series. Corticosteroid withdrawal or dose reduction was the probable precipitating factor in nearly one-third of our patients. Age, sex, marital status, educational level, disease duration, disease activity and the organ involvement in patients with SLE and FM were comparable to those in patients not having FM. Fibromyalgia appears to be distinctly uncommon in Indian patients with lupus. A strong family support system, the virtual lack of disability benefits and/or racial variations in pain threshold could be the likely factors responsible for the low prevalence of the disease observed in Indian patients with SLE.