Experiences of patients with fibromyalgia at a Finnish Health Centre: A qualitative study

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic features.

Characteristic	Participants (n = 18)
Age (mean & standard deviation, SD)	54.7 ± 15.5
Gender (n)
Female	15
Male	3
Educational level (n)
Primary school	6
Upper secondary school or vocational school	11
University or polytechnic	1
Employment status (n)
Engaged in working life (full- or part-time)	5
Unemployed	2
Unable to work (absence due to illness or disability pension)	9
Old-age pension	2
FM severity: PSD^a score (mean & SD)	22.5 ± 4.0
Years with FM^b (mean & SD)	13.8 ± 9.9
FM diagnosis set in (n)
Primary health care	6
Secondary health care	12
Number of other diagnoses (mean & SD)	1.8 ± 1.2
Regular medication (n)
Yes	9
No	9
Number of GP visits last year (mean & SD)	3.5 ± 2.0

^aThe PSD score is derived from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 diagnostic criteria as the widespread pain index and symptom severity scale are combined into one index ranging from 0 to 31. A patient who fills the ACR2010 criteria for FM will always have at least 12 points from the PSD score. The PSD score is strongly related to somatic symptom severity [29].

^bThe time since the FM diagnosis ranged from 2 to 32 years.

Table 2. Main themes from the focus-group interviews.

Searching for a reason for their illness

Prolonged diagnostic process

Contradictory and suspicious thoughts regarding the diagnosis

Need for compassion and understanding

The importance of the doctor-patient relationship

Illness and identity

Conceptions of the treatment