The prevalence of sexual abuse in women with fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum 1995 Feb;38(2):229-34
Date
02/01/1995Pubmed ID
7848313DOI
10.1002/art.1780380211Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0028877788 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 141 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in women diagnosed as having fibromyalgia (FM) compared with controls.
METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire designed to obtain information regarding demographics, health care utilization, and history of sexual and physical abuse was completed by 40 women with FM and by 42 women who had no evidence of connective tissue disease or other major medical condition.
RESULTS: Women with FM reported more physical symptoms and were significantly different on multiple indices of health compared with controls. Twenty-six FM subjects (65%) reported sexual abuse, in comparison with 22 controls (52%). The prevalence and type of abuse were not significantly different between groups. Sexually abused FM subjects reported significantly more symptoms than did non-sexually abused FM women, but did not differ in the number of symptoms for which they sought medical treatment.
CONCLUSION: Sexual abuse does not appear to be a specific factor in the etiology of FM, but is correlated with the number and severity of associated symptoms.
Author List
Taylor ML, Trotter DR, Csuka MEAuthor
Mary Ellen Csuka MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Child Abuse, Sexual
Child, Preschool
Female
Fibromyalgia
Humans
Middle Aged
Prevalence
