Sex-Related Differences in Symptoms and Psychosocial Outcomes in Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Prospective Questionnaire Study
Li Jiang, Ryan S. D’Souza, Terry H. Oh, Ann Vincent, Arya B. Mohabbat, Zachary Ashmore, William D. Mauck, Ge Lin, Mary O. Whipple, Samantha J. McAllister, Zhen Wang, Wenchun Qu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate sex-related differences in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) in terms of demographic characteristics and clinical features, including tender point count (TPC), mood disorders, sleep problems, FM symptom severity, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and quality of life (QOL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: <.05 was considered statistically significant. The Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was used to adjust for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: =.02). After adjustment for multiple comparisons, only the association between female sex and greater TPC remained significant. There were no sex-related differences in demographic characteristics, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, FM symptom severity, cognitive dysfunction, and QOL. CONCLUSION: A higher TPC may be associated with female sex in patients with FM. The assumption of other sex-based differences in the clinical presentation of FM was not supported in our study.