Memory functioning in patients with primary fibromyalgia and major depression and healthy controls.

Memory functioning was assessed in 25 primary fibromyalgia (FM) patients by comparing them with 22 major depressed patients and 18 healthy controls. A broad range of short- and long-term memory tasks were included. Both major depressed and FM patients were significantly impaired on long-term memory tasks requiring effortful processing, compared to healthy controls. When the depressive status of the fibromyalgia patients was accounted for, only the subsample with a lifetime major depressive disorder showed memory impairment as compared with the healthy controls.