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
. 2017 May;11(2):97-101.
doi: 10.1177/2049463717701393. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

Fibromyalgia in Behçet's disease: a narrative review

Claire Jobanputra  1 , Roberta H Richey  2 , Jagdish Nair  3 , Robert J Moots  4 , Andreas Goebel  2   5
Affiliations

Fibromyalgia in Behçet's disease: a narrative review

Claire Jobanputra et al. Br J Pain. 2017 May.

Abstract

Introduction: Fibromyalgia is characterised by chronic widespread pain and tenderness. It has often been reported to occur concomitantly with chronic rheumatological conditions. Behçet's disease is a chronic relapsing, multisystem, autoinflammatory disease. There is only limited understanding of a potential relationship between fibromyalgia and Behçet's disease.

Aim: Given the potential detrimental influence of pain on the outcome of chronic disease, the aim of this narrative review is to gain an understanding of the incidence and presentation of fibromyalgia in Behçet's disease.

Methods: Electronic databases Scopus, Medline, PubMed and UpToDate were searched.

Results: A total of 269 studies were identified, and limitations and exclusion/inclusion criteria were applied to ensure accurate and comparable selection of studies; four studies were selected. All cases were assessed for the presence of fibromyalgia according to the 1990 or 2010 diagnostic criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, with Behçet's disease diagnosed according to the International Study Group (ISG) for Behçet's disease criteria. A higher prevalence of fibromyalgia (5.7-37.1%) was reported in Behçet's disease compared to that of the general population (2.9-4.7%).

Discussion: While an increased prevalence of fibromyalgia was found in patients with Behçet's disease, this needs to be considered within the context of limited available evidence. The potential impact of these conditions on the disease activity of each other is not clear and may require a prospective study.

Conclusion: Fibromyalgia appears to be more prevalent in those with Behçet's disease than would be expected in the overall population. Significance: This review provides some evidence that fibromyalgia is more prevalent in those with Behçet's disease. To ensure appropriate patient treatment choices, it is important that both conditions are diagnosed where they co-exist.

Keywords: Behçet’s disease; Fibromyalgia; diagnosis; narrative review; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Adams EH, McElroy HJ, Udall M, et al. Risk factors for persistent chronic widespread pain: a community-based study. Rheumatology 2016; 40: 95–101. - PubMed
    1. Branco JC, Bannwarth B, Failde I, et al. Prevalence of fibromyalgia: a survey in five European countries. Semin Arthritis Rheum 2010; 39: 448–453. - PubMed
    1. Macfarlane GJ, Kronisch C, Dean LE, et al. EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia. Ann Rheum Dis 2016; 76: 318–328. - PubMed
    1. Wolfe F, Smythe HA, Yunus MB, et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum 1990; 33: 160–172. - PubMed
    1. Wolfe F, Clauw DJ, Fitzcharles MA, et al. The American College of Rheumatology preliminary diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia and measurement of symptom severity. Arthritis Care Res 2010; 62: 600–610. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources