Consistent terminology to describe the diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia (FM) and myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is required to address the reported inadequacies in diagnosis. The present review investigated intervention studies in FM and MPS populations to determine the lexicon of the current diagnostic criteria used to identify chronic musculoskeletal pain patients.
Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we conducted a scoping review to review systematically the literature obtained from five scientific databases between 1997 and February 2017. Included studies consisted of intervention studies that involved symptomatic musculoskeletal pain patients, of any age or gender, presenting with FM or MPS. Included studies were evaluated for musculoskeletal condition and the diagnostic criteria used to identify patient conditions. Extraction of study criteria focused on whether diagnostic criteria were explicitly stated, the diagnostic criteria used, physical findings, symptomatic duration and the profession of the healthcare provider who confirmed diagnosis.
We identified 493 interventions, of which 410 were related to FM and 83 to MPS. The lexicon of the diagnostic criteria used for MPS tended to be less consistent in comparison to FM criteria, with notable differences in all comparative categories.
The current review identified inconsistencies associated with the lexicon of the diagnostic criteria used to diagnose FM and MPS, and showed that there is wide variability in the terminology currently being used. These findings may have important implications for future development of consistent criteria to diagnose FM and MPS patients accurately.