RESUMO
Objective: To determine the prevalence of Fibromyalgia syndrome [FMS] in Iraqi patients with Behcet's disease. Methods: The two-stage classification process proposed by the 1990 American College of Rheumatology [ACR] multicenter criteria committee-on fibromyalgia was applied after completion of a questionnaire about Behcet's disease clinical features.Stage I: A plain questionnaire to a sample of 90 [41 female and 49 male] patients with Behcet's disease, mean age 37.5 years.Stage II: All patients with wide spread pain were examined by a physician blinded to the diagnosis of Behcet's disease for 18 tender points and 4 control non-tender points. A sample of 40 [16 female and 24 male] healthy individuals were examined as controls. Results: There were 53 [58.9%] patients with BD with widespread pain compared to 6 [15%] individuals in the control group, whereas only 8 [8.9%] [7 female and 1 male] patients with BD fulfilled the 1990 ACR criteria for classification of FMS, compared to one individual in the controls [2.5%]. There were significantly more females with BD having FMS compared to male patients. Also the FMS associated features were more prevalent in BD group compared to control group. Conclusion: FMS and widespread pain are more prevalent in patients with BD than in the general population while it is less prevalent when compared with other connective tissue diseases. There is a trend for an increased frequency of FMS in females with BD BD patients with FMS may benefit from psychological evaluation as a part of their treatment