Comparison of the diagnoses, the outpatient clinics they visited, and the number of visits of patients with and without a diagnosis of fibromyalgia syndrome: Do patients with fibromyalgia syndrome come to the hospital more often?

Objectives: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has a wide spectrum of symptoms that includes all body parts. So FMS is a great imitator. This brings to mind the possibility that fibromyalgia patients visit outpatient clinics in many departments more than non-fibromyalgia patients. However, there is not enough data on this subject. This study aims to compare the number of outpatient visits of patients with FMS with those without a diagnosis of FMS and to examine their diagnoses.

Methods: The diagnoses of 140 patients (70 with fibromyalgia and 70 controls), and departments of the outpatient clinics they visited were analyzed retrospectively. In the control group, patients who visited the same outpatient clinic with the complaint of knee pain, but who did not have FMS and who had never been diagnosed with FMS before, were recruited as age- and gender-matched.

Results: The total number of outpatient clinic visits, as well as the number of visits to physical medicine and rehabilitation, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery, internal medicine, and psychiatry departments, were significantly higher in fibromyalgia group patients compared to the control group. In addition, the number of diagnoses in the 5th chapter (mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders, F01-F99) of International Classification of Diseases-10 was significantly higher in the fibromyalgia group.

Conclusion: It should be kept in mind that patients with FMS visit more hospitals and outpatient clinics than other patients. Physicians and patients should be informed about this issue to reduce unnecessary health costs.