[Clinical and psychosocial characteristics of subjects with fibromyalgia. Impact of the diagnosis on patients' activities].

Background: Little is known today about the characteristics of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia, their degree of disability and the health system response system response to this condition. The objectives of this work include: to establish the sociodemographic, clinical and psychosocial profile of male and female patients with fibromyalgia. To describe the response they receive from the health service, and to study the repercussions of this syndrome on the daily activities of subjects who suffer it, including its effects on their work environment.
Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study. The information was received from telephone interviews of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves in Granada during 2003.
Results: 92.1% of those interviewed were women. Fibromyalgia caused work absenteeism in 31.4% of cases; and 64% regarded their health as poor or very poor. Fibromyalgia was associated with other diseases in 52.3% of cases. The family doctor is the specialist consulted before diagnosis in 92.1% of cases. A total of 50.5% had a history of psychiatric disorders, these were still present at the time of interview in 36.4%. Around 71% of the sample received family support, and 70.1% of cases considered the disease to seriously affect their environment.
Conclusions: Fibromyalgia was mainly diagnosed in women. Subjects with this syndrome have a poor perception of their own health and work situation, and it negatively affects their family environment.