Fibromyalgia Through the Centuries: How Fibromyalgia Has Evolved

• 1990: The American College of Rheumatology established its diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia in 1990. This standard was aimed at separating patients with fibromyalgia from people who are suffering from widespread pain. The proposed criteria took into account that at any given point in time around 15 percent of the general population experience widespread pain. The ACR criteria indicated that a fibromyalgia diagnosis can only be given if the patient experiencing widespread pain should also have eleven of eighteen tender points. In addition, the main sign of fibromyalgia is a lower threshold for pain.

• 1991: In 1991, a Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) was first published. The standardized questionnaire was designed to evaluate the effects of fibromyalgia on the ability of the patient to function properly. It also assessed the level of pain the patient’s experience and their mental state. In addition, the questionnaire also took into account sleep issues and fatigue level of the patient, among others. The questionnaire was published in fourteen languages, and lead to fibromyalgia being integrated into the tenth division of the International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) of the World Health Organization in the same year.