Evaluation of pain, disease activity, anxiety, depression, and neuropathic pain levels after COVID-19 infection in fibromyalgia patients

Abstract

Abstract Background Psychological stressors may cause mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders and fbromyalgia (FM) patients could be afected by these stressors. Aim To evaluate pain, disease activity, anxiety, depression, and neuropathic pain levels after COVID-19 infection in patients with FM. Methods According to the 2016 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, ffty-seven patients with FM alone and 77 patients with FM and recovering from COVID-19 infection were recruited to the study (group 1: patients with FM alone and group 2: patients with FM and recovering from COVID-19). Demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded. The pain level was determined by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), the pain regions by the Widespread Pain Index (WPI) of the 2016 ACR criteria, the severity of the symptoms by the Symptom Severity Scale (SSS) of the 2016 ACR criteria, the disease activity by the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the anxiety and depression levels by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the neuropathic pain level by Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs Pain Scale (LANSS). Results Age, height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), and the duration of FM diagnosis were similar in both groups (p>0.05). NRS, FIQ, HADS depression scale, and SSS and LANSS scores were similar between group 1 and group 2 (p>0.05). HADS anxiety score and WPI were signifcantly increased in group 2 (p=0.026 and p=0.024 respectively). Conclusions Anxiety and widespread pain levels were higher in patients with FM and recovering from COVID-19 infection.