Intended for healthcare professionals

Letters Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia: an unhelpful diagnosis for patients and doctors

BMJ 2014; 348 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2168 (Published 19 March 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g2168
  1. Christopher Bass, consultant in liaison psychiatry1,
  2. Max Henderson, senior lecturer in epidemiology and occupational psychiatry2
  1. 1John Radcliffe Hospital , Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
  2. 2Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK
  1. christopher.bass{at}oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

Rahman and colleagues’ review describes fibromyalgia as if it is a disease entity, which is misleading.1 Because we recognise the difficulties encountered by these patients, we suggest that the term fibromyalgia be abandoned for several reasons.

Firstly, fibromyalgia is a dimensional or “continuum disorder” and not a “disease.”2

Secondly, fibromyalgia is strongly …

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