Citation

Wolfe F, Häuser W, Walitt BT, Katz RS, Rasker JJ, Russell AS. J. Rheumatol. 2014; 41(9): 1737-1745.

Affiliation

From the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases and University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kansas, USA; Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany; Department of Rheumatology, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC; Department of Rheumatology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychology, Health and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands; Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Wolfe has testified in US courts. Dr. Häuser received honoraria for education lectures from Abbott Germany and Pfizer, and 1 consulting honorarium from Daiichi Sankyo in the last 3 years. F. Wolfe, MD, National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases and University of Kansas School of Medicine; W. Häuser, MD, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Technische Universität München; B.T. Walitt, MD, MPH, Department of Rheumatology, Washington Hospital Center; R.S. Katz, MD, Department of Rheumatology, Rush University Medical Center; J.J. Rasker, MD, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences, Department of Psychology, Health and Technology, University of Twente; A.S. Russell, MA, MB, BChir, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta. Address correspondence to Dr. Wolfe, National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases, 1035 N. Emporia, Suite 288, Wichita, Kansas 67214, USA. E-mail: fwolfe@arthritis-research.org. Accepted for publication April 29, 2014.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Journal of Rheumatology Publishing)

DOI

10.3899/jrheum.140268

PMID

25086080

Abstract

Despite weak to nonexistent evidence regarding the causal association of trauma and fibromyalgia (FM), literature and court testimony continue to point out the association as if it were a strong and true association. The only data that appear unequivocally to support the notion that trauma causes FM are case reports, cases series, and studies that rely on patients' recall and attribution - very low-quality data that do not constitute scientific evidence. Five research studies have contributed evidence to the FM-trauma association. There is no scientific support for the idea that trauma overall causes FM, and evidence in regard to an effect of motor vehicle accidents on FM is weak or null. In some instances effect may be seen to precede cause. Alternative causal models that propose that trauma causes "stress" that leads to FM are unfalsifiable and unmeasurable.

Language: en