The relationship among pain, depression, and illness perception in female patients with fibromyalgia

Objective: While pain is still the most important symptom among diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia, mental symptoms also have an important role in diagnosis. There are a limited number of studies investigating the relationship between pain and illness perception in fibromyalgia. It was aimed to investigate the relationship between pain, depression and illness perception in this study. Methods: Fifty patients who were followed outpatiently and who had a diagnosis of fibromyalgia for more than 6 months were included in the study. Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), Visual Analogue Scale for Pain (VAS) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were used as measuring tools. Findings: In our study, a significant positive correlation between VAS score and subscale scores of IPS which are number of illness symptoms, thinking that these symptoms are related with the illness, duration of illness, personal control and emotional representations. There was no relation between VAS and age, duration of illness, BDI score and the subscales of IPS that are perception of illness consequences, treatment control and understanding the illness. Conclusion: Our findings make us think that pain and mood symptoms may occur due to different mechanisms in fibromyalgia. [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2015; 16(5.000): 329-336]