Cognitive impairment in patients with Fibromyalgia syndrome as assessed by the mini-mental state examination

Abstract

Background. This study evaluated the frequency of cognitive impairment in patients with Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Methods. We analyzed baseline data from all 46 patients with FMS and 92 age- and sex-matched controls per diagnosis of neuropathic (NeP) or mixed pain (MP) selected from a larger prospective study. Results. FMS had a slight but statistically significant lower score in the adjusted MMSE score (26.9; 95% CI 26.7-27.1) than either NeP (27.3; 95% CI 27.2-27.4) or MP (27.3; 27.2-27.5). The percentage of patients with congnitive impairment (adjusted MMSE 26) was numerically higher in FMS (15%; 95% CI 6.3-29) compared with NeP (5%; 95% CI 1.8-12.2) or MP (5%; 95% CI 1.8-12.2) and higher than in the same age stratum of the general population (0.05%). Conclusions. Compared with the population reference value, patients with FMS showed high frequency of cognitive impairment. © 2009 Rodríguez-Andreu et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.