Geographical disparities in fibromyalgia severity: An Italian study

• Published in: European journal of pain 2024-09
• Main Authors: Di Carlo, Marco, Farah, Sonia, Atzeni, Fabiola, Alciati, Alessandra, Di Franco, Manuela, Iannuccelli, Cristina, Bazzichi, Laura, Bianchi, Gerolamo, Giovale, Massimo, Tirri, Rosella, Guiducci, Serena, Guggino, Giuliana, Franceschini, Franco, Foti, Rosario, Lo Gullo, Alberto, Biasi, Giovanni, Gremese, Elisa, Dagna, Lorenzo, Tirri, Enrico, Giacomelli, Roberto, Batticiotto, Alberto, Cutolo, Maurizio, Sarzi-Puttini, Piercarlo, Salaffi, Fausto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1090-3801; 1532-2149; 1532-2149
• DOI: 10.1002/ejp.4735

Geographic origin may represent a variable capable of influencing health status. This study aims to investigate the presence of differences of disease severity in Italian patients with fibromyalgia from different macro-regions. This retrospective, cross-sectional study involved patients included in the Italian Fibromyalgia Registry. Three geographical macro-regions were identified, comprising patients from Northern Italy, Central Italy and Southern Italy. Clinical differences (evaluated through PolySymptomatic Distress Scale [PSD], revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire [FIQR] and modified Fibromyalgia Assessment Status [FASmod]) among the geographical macro-regions were studied using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Scheffé's test. A total of 6095 patients (5719 females and 376 males) were included, with 1957 from Northern Italy, 2979 from Central Italy and 1159 from Southern Italy. All studied clinical indices showed a trend indicative of greater disease severity in Southern Italy, followed by Northern Italy and then Central Italy (mean values for PSD: 19.97 ± 6.20 in Northern Italy, 18.61 ± 7.12 in Central Italy, 23.01 ± 5.66 in Souther Italy). These differences were statistically significant for the overall scores of all studied indices, evaluated with ANOVA (all p