Somatosensory temporal discrimination is impaired in fibromyalgia

•Somatosensory temporal discrimination (STD) is prolonged in fibromyalgia patients.•Prolongation in STD correlates with severity of pain and other symptoms.•Impaired STD indicates alteration in higher-order sensory processing in fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is the prototypical central sensitivity syndrome which is associated with increased sensitivity to pain and other stimuli. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether somatosensory temporal discrimination ability, which provides information about central processing of sensory stimuli, was impaired in patients with fibromyalgia. Fifteen patients with fibromyalgia and 15 healthy subjects participated in the study. Demographic characteristics of participants and severity for fatigue, sleep quality, cognitive symptoms, somatic symptoms and health-related quality of life in fibromyalgia patients were recorded. Somatosensory temporal discrimination thresholds were measured from the dorsum of the dominant hands of the participants by using a constant current stimulator (Medtronic, Keypoint). Patients with fibromyalgia had higher somatosensory temporal discrimination thresholds than healthy subjects (p