Old Classification Criteria for Fibromyalgia

The final 1990 ACR FM classification criteria included:

●Symptoms of widespread pain, occurring both above and below the waist and affecting both the right and left sides of the body

●Physical findings of at least 11 of 18 defined tender points

These simple criteria had greater than 85 percent sensitivity and specificity for differentiating patients with FM from those with other rheumatic diseases.

In office practice, the diagnosis of FM can be made even if fewer than 11 of 18 tender points are present, provided that the history is consistent with FM and that the major differential diagnoses have been excluded . The tender points represent heightened pain perception rather than sites of inflammation or tissue pathology. Thus, they are proxies for detecting widespread pain, and the exact number necessary to diagnose FM clinically is somewhat arbitrary. It is important to recognize that the classification criteria were validated for large patient populations and should be used primarily in clinical research and epidemiologic studies of FM

Bhopalwala. H