Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 1999 Apr;26(4):885-9.

The London Fibromyalgia Epidemiology Study: direct health care costs of fibromyalgia syndrome in London, Canada

K P White  1 , M Speechley, M Harth, T Ostbye
Affiliations
  • PMID: 10229411
Comparative Study

The London Fibromyalgia Epidemiology Study: direct health care costs of fibromyalgia syndrome in London, Canada

K P White et al. J Rheumatol. 1999 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate direct health care costs associated with fibromyalgia (FM) within a representative community sample.

Methods: A random sample of 3395 noninstitutionalized adults was screened for widespread pain. Individuals screening positive were examined for FM. Direct health care costs were compared among those with confirmed FM (FM cases, FC), those with widespread pain not having FM (pain controls, PC), controls without widespread pain (general controls, GC), and a random sample of age, sex and geographically matched controls from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database (OHIP controls, OC).

Results: One hundred FC (86 women) were compared to 76 PC subjects, 135 GC, and 380 OC. FC used more medications and outpatient health services than PC subjects, and about twice the health services at twice the cost compared to GC and OC. The mean difference in direct costs for health services between FC and OC was $493 Cdn annually (p<0.001).

Conclusion: FM has a major effect on direct health care costs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources