Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (16)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Macfarlane, T. V.
Right arrow Articles by Macfarlane, G. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Macfarlane, T. V.
Right arrow Articles by Macfarlane, G. J.
Related Collections
Right arrow Psychology: Measurement and Management of Pain
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Rheumatology 2002; 41: 454-457
© 2002 British Society for Rheumatology

Original Papers

Sex hormonal factors and chronic widespread pain: a population study among women

T. V. Macfarlane, A. Blinkhorn, H. V. Worthington, R. M. Davies1 and G. J. Macfarlane2,3,

University Dental Hospital of Manchester,
1 Dental Health Unit,
2 Unit of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and
3 Arthritis Research Campaign Epidemiology Unit, University of Manchester, UK

Objective. The observation of higher rates of chronic widespread pain, the cardinal feature of fibromyalgia, in women has led to hypotheses about the role of sex hormonal factors in the aetiology of symptoms. There is little available evidence from epidemiological studies on their importance or role.

Methods. A population postal survey was carried out involving 1178 female participants living in south-east Cheshire in the north-west of England.

Results. Amongst pre- and peri-menopausal women, the risk of chronic widespread pain was unrelated either to the length of the menstrual cycle or the usual length of period reported by participants. Risk was similar in current users and non-users of the oral contraceptive pill, and amongst users there was no relationship with duration of use. However, the reporting of chronic widespread pain showed a relationship with total score on a premenstrual symptom questionnaire. However, this relationship was explained by pain symptoms. Amongst post-menopausal women, reporting chronic widespread pain was not related to age at menopause. An increased (but non-significant) risk of chronic widespread pain was associated with current hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which may be a consequence of HRT being prescribed for menopausal symptoms.

Conclusion. This study, conducted on a large unselected population, has not demonstrated an association between sex hormonal factors and chronic widespread pain.

KEY WORDS: Pain, Fibromyalgia, Sex Hormones, Epidemiology.

Correspondence to: G. J. Macfarlane, Unit of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, University of Manchester, Medical School, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.