Fibromyalgia awareness in women aged between 18 and 75 years: a current view to fibromyalgia

Aim To measure the fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) knowledge of female patients admitted to a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic. Subjects and methods One hundred seventy-two ( N = 172) literate women aged 18–75 years were included in the study. FMS diagnosis was based on the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 Classification Criteria. Participants’ age, height, weight, level of education and occupations were recorded. The participants were given a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions. The answers were given as true or false. Results The participants were mainly housewives (52.9%) graduated from primary/middle school (43%). The median number of right answers was 10 (15.7%) with a positive correlation with education level ( r = 0.189; p = 0.013). The majority of the participants knew that FMS was characterized by widespread pain as a disease more common in women. However, the false beliefs that the disease was inflammatory, develops deformities in the joints and reduces fertility reduction were not low. Conclusion Patients’ knowledge of the characteristics and long-term outcome of this multifaceted disease contributes to the control of disease. Therefore, patient education programs are important as a complementary treatment in FMS.