OBJECTIVE: The study aims to determine from the physician's perspective, the conditions and symptoms most relevant to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) for identifying International Classification of Diseases-diagnosis codes and prescription medications to evaluate FM-related healthcare resource utilization. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered using an online physician network (SERMO™) from which responses of 102 physicians were evaluated: anesthesiologists (n = 6), neurologists (n = 18), primary care physicians (n = 16), pain specialists (n = 16), psychiatrists (n = 15), and rheumatologists (n = 31). Physicians scored the relative importance to a diagnosis of FM (0 = least relevant/important, 10 = most relevant/important) of 24 conditions and symptoms derived from a list provided by the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. Conditions and symptoms with mean scores ≥ 5 were considered the most relevant. Other survey questions included treatment goals, assessment of disease severity, medication use, and characterization of the physicians' experience and clinical practice. RESULTS: Ten conditions and symptoms (mean score) were reported as most relevant: Muscle pain (8.7), Fatigue/tiredness (8.5), Insomnia (8.0), Depression (7.8), Thinking/remembering (6.7), Nervousness (6.0), Muscle weakness (5.9), Headache (5.7), Irritable bowel syndrome (5.5), and Pain/cramps in abdomen (5.1). Treatment goals, severity assessment, and use of medications were generally similar across physician specialties. CONCLUSIONS: This survey identified 10 conditions and symptoms that physician respondents considered most relevant to a diagnosis of FM. Further evaluation to determine how these conditions and symptoms contribute to FM-associated healthcare resource utilization is warranted.
OBJECTIVE: The study aims to determine from the physician's perspective, the conditions and symptoms most relevant to the diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) for identifying International Classification of Diseases-diagnosis codes and prescription medications to evaluate FM-related healthcare resource utilization. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered using an online physician network (SERMO™) from which responses of 102 physicians were evaluated: anesthesiologists (n = 6), neurologists (n = 18), primary care physicians (n = 16), pain specialists (n = 16), psychiatrists (n = 15), and rheumatologists (n = 31). Physicians scored the relative importance to a diagnosis of FM (0 = least relevant/important, 10 = most relevant/important) of 24 conditions and symptoms derived from a list provided by the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. Conditions and symptoms with mean scores ≥ 5 were considered the most relevant. Other survey questions included treatment goals, assessment of disease severity, medication use, and characterization of the physicians' experience and clinical practice. RESULTS: Ten conditions and symptoms (mean score) were reported as most relevant: Muscle pain (8.7), Fatigue/tiredness (8.5), Insomnia (8.0), Depression (7.8), Thinking/remembering (6.7), Nervousness (6.0), Muscle weakness (5.9), Headache (5.7), Irritable bowel syndrome (5.5), and Pain/cramps in abdomen (5.1). Treatment goals, severity assessment, and use of medications were generally similar across physician specialties. CONCLUSIONS: This survey identified 10 conditions and symptoms that physician respondents considered most relevant to a diagnosis of FM. Further evaluation to determine how these conditions and symptoms contribute to FM-associated healthcare resource utilization is warranted.
Authors: Nicole M Marlow; Kit N Simpson; Ivana A Vaughn; Ara Jo; James S Zoller; Edward B Short Journal: Pain Pract Date: 2017-05-28 Impact factor: 3.183
Authors: Víctor Segura-Jiménez; Fernando Estévez-López; Alberto Soriano-Maldonado; Inmaculada C Álvarez-Gallardo; Manuel Delgado-Fernández; Jonatan R Ruiz; Virginia A Aparicio Journal: Pain Res Manag Date: 2016-10-27 Impact factor: 3.037