ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members. Disclaimer ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives. Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services. |
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DSM-5 criteria useless in Fibromyalgia: expertsTuesday 1 April 2014
DSM-5 criteria useless in fibromyalgia: experts Virtually all fibromyalgia patients would be classified as having a mental disease under the DSM-5’s new criteria for somatic symptom disorder, a study confirms. Its authors gave a somatic symptom severity questionnaire to over 6,200 patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. They found that 90% of fibromyalgia patients had scores in the high level, consistent with a diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder according to DSM-5 criteria. A substantial portion of rheumatoid arthritis patients also met the threshold and could also be considered to have a mental illness under DSM-5, the investigators from the US and Germany said. The authors pointed out the essential subjectivity of the criteria, which include “disproportionate and persistent thoughts about the seriousness of one’s symptoms”; “persistently high level of anxiety about health or symptoms” and “excessive time and energy devoted to these symptoms”. Writing in PLOS One, the authors said it was likely some assessors would rate fibromyalgia or RA patients as “disproportionate” in their concern about their symptoms while others would consider the same patients as showing reasonable concern. “So it is possible that the presence of a mental illness may depend more on the examiner than the patient,” they commented. “We are dubious that the DSM-5 approach can distinguish validly and reliably which fibromyalgia patients are and which are not mentally ill, particularly in clinical care settings where diagnosis will come most often from generalists,” they concluded.
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