Cited by 3,967Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ResearchPsychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsMyofascial pain diagnosis and treatment

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 1 are not checked yet; 3 of the 14 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

The American College of Rheumatology Preliminary Diagnostic Criteria for Fibromyalgia and Measurement of Symptom Severity

Open access

Abstract

Objective: To develop simple, practical criteria for clinical diagnosis of fibromyalgia that are suitable for use in primary and specialty care and that do not require a tender point examination, and to provide a severity scale for characteristic fibromyalgia symptoms. Methods: We performed a multicenter study of 829 previously diagnosed fibromyalgia patients and controls using physician physical and interview examinations, including a widespread pain index (WPI), a measure of the number of painful body regions. Random forest and recursive partitioning analyses were used to guide the development of a case definition of fibromyalgia, to develop criteria, and to construct a symptom severity (SS) scale. Results: Approximately 25% of fibromyalgia patients did not satisfy the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 1990 classification criteria at the time of the study. The most important diagnostic variables were WPI and categorical scales for cognitive symptoms, unrefreshed sleep, fatigue, and number of somatic symptoms. The categorical scales were summed to create an SS scale. We combined the SS scale and the WPI to recommend a new case definition of fibromyalgia: (WPI ≥7 AND SS ≥5) OR (WPI 3–6 AND SS ≥9). Conclusion: This simple clinical case definition of fibromyalgia correctly classifies 88.1% of cases classified by the ACR classification criteria, and does not require a physical or tender point examination. The SS scale enables assessment of fibromyalgia symptom severity in persons with current or previous fibromyalgia, and in those to whom the criteria have not been applied. It will be especially useful in the longitudinal evaluation of patients with marked symptom variability.

Verified 2026-10-22 · 1 reference not checked yet

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/acr.20140

Cites

24 of 25 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

3 of 14 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 71 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 30
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 11
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
35 of 35
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The ACR 1990 classification criteria are a valid reference standard for identifying fibromyalgia cases.

    “correctly classifies 88.1% of cases classified by the ACR classification criteria”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Physician diagnosis of fibromyalgia is a valid way to identify fibromyalgia patients for the study.

    “We required the fibromyalgia study patients to have a previous diagnosis of fibromyalgia.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The study sample of rheumatology patients and physicians is representative of primary and specialty care settings where the criteria are intended to be used.

    “We recruited study physicians by selecting randomly from a list of 113 rheumatologists who were members of the ACR and who indicated an interest in participating in the study after an e-mail solicitation.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The ACR classification criteria have not been widely embraced in primary care.

    “However, they have not been widely embraced in primary care.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The clinical diagnosis in primary care does not ordinarily involve a tender point count or an adequately executed tender count when performed.

    “First, the clinical diagnosis in primary care does not ordinarily involve a tender point count or an adequately executed tender count when performed.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The case definition of fibromyalgia has changed somewhat with increasing recognition of the importance of cognitive problems and somatic symptoms, factors that were not even considered in the 1990 ACR classification criteria.

    “Second, the case definition of fibromyalgia has changed somewhat with increasing recognition of the importance of cognitive problems and somatic symptoms, factors that were not even considered in the 1990 ACR classification criteria.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The central problem in fibromyalgia criteria is the absence of a gold standard or case definition.

    “The central problem in fibromyalgia criteria is the absence of a gold standard or case definition.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The shift in the conceptualization of fibromyalgia that occurred in the clinic and in research studies provided no clear case definition.

    “The shift in the conceptualization of fibromyalgia that occurred in the clinic and in research studies, however, provided no clear case definition.”
8 of 8

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Control-group percentage does not match its count

    Minor

    The reported 251 controls are 48.8% of the 514 phase 1 subjects, not 48.1%.

    Reported 48.1 · recomputed 48.832685

  • Table 5 omits the pain-index requirement from one diagnostic branch

    Minor

    Table 5 labels SS ≥9 alone as sufficient in its second branch, while Table 4 also requires WPI 3-6. The Table 5 expression would include patients with WPI below 3 whom the stated criteria exclude.

  • Seven categorical patient scales are claimed but six are listed

    Minor

    The methods say patients completed seven categorical symptom scales, but the ensuing list names only six.

  • Patient symptom-count ranges differ

    Minor

    The methods define the patient somatic-symptom count as ranging from 0 to 56, but Table 1 labels the patient symptom count as ranging from 0 to 48.

4 of 4

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Metadata

Authors
Wolfe, F., Clauw, D. J., Fitzcharles, M., Goldenberg, D. L., Katz, R. S., Mease, P., Russell, A. S., Russell, I. J., Winfield, J. B., & Yunus, M. B.
Affiliations
  • University of Kansas (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • Montreal General Hospital (CA)
  • Tufts University (US)
  • Rush University Medical Center (US)
  • Swedish Medical Center (US)
  • University of Alberta (CA)
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • Peoria campus of the University of Illinois System (US)
Venue
Arthritis Care & Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2010-04-29
Volume
62
Issue
5
Pages
600-610
ISSN
  • 0893-7524 (ISSN-L)
  • 2151-464X
  • 2151-4658
OpenAlex
W2049056319
Cited by
3,952
References
25
Citations by year
2026: 159 · 2025: 217 · 2024: 220 · 2023: 233 · 2022: 299 · 2021: 363 · 2020: 287 · 2019: 278 · 2018: 278 · 2017: 262 · 2016: 259 · 2015: 259 · 2014: 237 · 2013: 225 · 2012: 182
FWCI
129.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Arthritis Care & Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Myofascial pain diagnosis and treatment
Keywords
fibromyalgia, diagnostic criteria, symptom severity scale, Widespread Pain Index, case definition, fatigue, sleep disorders, cognitive symptoms, somatic symptoms
MeSH terms
Fibromyalgia, Health Status Indicators, Humans, Medical Informatics, Pain, Rheumatology, Sensitivity and Specificity, Severity of Illness Index, Societies, Medical, United States, Reproducibility of Results

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