A double blind crossover trial of prednisone versus placebo in the treatment of fibrositis

Abstract

Twenty patients with a diagnosis of fibrositis were entered into a double blinded crossover study to compare the effects of prednisone versus placebo. Each patient was randomly assigned to either prednisone 15 mg/day or placebo for 14 days of therapy and then therapy was switched for a further 14 days. The following measurements were assessed at baseline, end of Week 2 and end of Week 4: analogue scores for pain, sleep disturbance, morning stiffness and fatiguability, and dolorimetry readings of pain tolerance over 14 representative tender points. Overall there was no improvement while taking prednisone, indeed most measured variables showed a trend towards deterioration with this therapy.