The impact of sex, age, body mass index (BMI) in fibromyalgia is still unclear. A systematic review was conducted to investigate whether sex, age and BMI influence the clinical outcomes and rate of adverse events.
The present study was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. The literature search was performed in February 2021. All the RCTs investigating pharmacological strategies for fibromyalgia were accessed.
Data from 51 RCTs (17,311 patients) were collected. Short Form 36 emotional, Social function and physical role subscales showed evidence of a negative association with BMI (P = 0.02, P = 0.002 and P = 0.0001, respectively). Depression and anxiety subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression score demonstrated evidence of a positive association with age (P = 0.04 and P = 0.001, respectively) and sex (P = 0.00005 and P = 0.0001, respectively). Visual analog scale evidenced a positive association with BMI (P = 0.04). Clinical Global Impression Severity scale demonstrated evidence of a negative association with BMI (P = 0.02).
I, systematic review of RCTs.
Irrespective from the pharmacological approach, a higher BMI is negatively associated with a favorable outcome in patients with fibromyalgia. The association with sex and age remains controversial.