Pain and other symptom severity in women with fibromyalgia and a previous hysterectomy

OBJECTIVE Fibromyalgia is a troubling disease characterized by chronic pain. This study explored whether pain and other fibromyalgia symptoms are worse among women who had undergone a hysterectomy with or without an oophorectomy versus those who had not. METHODS Consecutive women who were seen at the Fibromyalgia Treatment Program at a tertiary medical center between 2001 and 2004 and who completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) at initial evaluation were included in this study. RESULTS A total of 813 women were included; 328 had had a hysterectomy. Total FIQ scores from women who had had a hysterectomy were higher (worse symptoms) than those who had not (58.1 vs 56.4, P = 0.002). FIQ subscale scores of pain (P = 0.003), fatigue (P = 0.030), stiffness (P = 0.035), and depression (P = 0.008) were also worse in women who had had a hysterectomy. Similar to the FIQ, SF-36 physical component scores were worse in women who had had a hysterectomy (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION Pain and other fibromyalgia symptom severity was worse in women who had had a hysterectomy with or without an oophorectomy.