Patients with fibromyalgia may be at a significantly higher risk of suicide if they spend less time face-to-face with their doctor, according to a case-controlled study.
Researchers gathered electronic health record data from 1998 to 2017 on 8,879 fibromyalgia patients. There were 34 known suicide attempts and 96 documented cases of suicidal ideation in the cohort. Risk factors for suicidal ideation included complaints of fatigue (OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.25‐1.32), dizziness (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.22‐1.28), and weakness (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.15‐1.19). Suicide attempt risk factors included obesity (OR = 1.18, 95% CI 1.10‐1.27) and drug dependence (OR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.12‐1.18).
Did you know the risk of #suicide is 3 times higher for #fibromylagia than for other #chronicpain patients? #Vanderbilt #SuicidePreventionMonth #SuicideAwarenessMonth #SuicideDue2Pain #SuicidePrevention https://t.co/YpQpgIw1oD
— Pain News Network (@PainNewsNetwork) September 22, 2018
Fibromyalgia patients who had no suicidal ideation or documented suicide attempts spent 3.5 times more time in follow-up and more than 40 times more time face-to-face with their providers annually, respectively.
The findings were published in Arthritis Care & Research.
“Fifty hours versus one hour – that’s a staggering difference,” said lead study author Dr. Lindsey McKernan, PhD, assistant professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. “They might have been at one appointment in a year and this disorder, fibromyalgia, takes a lot to manage. It takes a lot of engagement.”
https://twitter.com/fmsbot/status/1044563487891116035
Patients with fibromyalgia are 10 times more likely than those without the disease to die by suicide.
“Often, when you are hurting, your body tells you to stay in bed,” McKernan said. “Moving is the last thing that you want to do. And when you are tired, when your mood is low, when your body aches, you don’t want to see anybody, but that is exactly what you need to do — contact your doctors, stay in touch with them, and move. It really can make a difference.”
The study authors concluded: “This is the first study to successfully apply machine learning to reliably detect suicidality in FM, identifying novel risk factors for suicidality and highlighting outpatient engagement as a protective factor against suicide.”
What is it like to lose a patient to suicide?
Read about the impacts of exercise on women with fibromyalgia here.
Read about the differences of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide here.
Read about sleep disorders and fibromyalgia here.
Sources: Arthritis Care & Research, Newswise
© 2025 Mashup Media, LLC, a Formedics Property. All Rights Reserved.