Background Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain syndrome of unknown etiopathogenesis. Its development and maintenance are related to a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and contextual factors. Among the contextual factors, sociodemographic aspects are poorly elucidated.

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between sociodemographic/clinical factors and symptom severity measures using a web-based registry of patients with FM.

Methods The study included adult patients recruited between November 2018 and April 2019 at 19 Italian rheumatology centers. All the patients underwent a complete physical examination and those laboratory tests specified in the revised European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommendations for the management of FM. The inclusion criteria were (a) age from 18 to 80 years and (b) diagnosis of FM based on the 2010/2011 criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), made by a rheumatologist with at least 10 years of experience. All patients were asked to complete a package of questionnaires about their sociodemographic data (age, sex, marital status, education and BMI), disease-related variables, their quality of life, and the type(s) of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments currently received. The data and measures were electronically entered into the web-based Italian Fibromyalgia Registry (IFR) by physicians working at those 19 Italian rheumatology centers. Two disease-specific questionnaires were used for the clinical evaluation in this study: the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) and the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PDS).

Results Data relating to 3,221 patients (3001 women and 220 men) was collected. The ANOVA showed significant difference in mean FIQR scores when the five marital conditions (cohabiter, married, separated/divorced, single, widowed) were compared (F 3.321, p <0.01). While males and females were found to have comparable FIQR scores, the interaction between gender and marital status indicated that separated/divorced males have higher FIQR scores (F 5,684, p = 0,617) (Figure 1). The multiple regression analysis demonstrated that patients who reported lower educational level experienced more severe FM symptoms, as scored with FIQR (p <0.0001).

Conclusion Our results indicated that being male and separated/divorced is associated to higher severity of FM symptoms, as rated with FIQR. Furthermore, a relationship between educational level and FIQR scores has been detected. This study supports the importance of collecting simple SES measures to identify environmental risk factors for FM severity.

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References [1]Sarzi-Puttini P, Giorgi V, Marotto D, et al. Fibromyalgia: an update on clinical characteristics, aetiopathogenesis and treatment. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 2020;16(11) 645-60.

[2]Salaffi F, Farah S, Di Carlo M, et al. The Italian Fibromyalgia Registry: a new way of using routine real-world data concerning patient-reported disease status in healthcare research and clinical practice. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2020;38 Suppl 123(1):65-71.

Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to all the colleagues involved in SIR Fibromyalgia group

Disclosure of Interests None declared