The effect of fibromyalgia syndrome to nasal mucociliary function in females

Abstract

Aim: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is soft tissue rheumatism characterized by chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain. Central sensitization–related neuroaudiological symptoms are frequently seen in patients with FM. The aim of this study was to investigate the duration of nasal mucociliary clearance in FM patients and its relation with pain. Material and Methods: A prospective case–control study was carried out in Otorhinolaryngology Clinic. Forty four (N=44) females were enrolled in the study. Twenty two (22) FM patients with age (p=0.5) and body mass index (BMI) (p=0.072) matched healthy controls were included in the study. The FM diagnosis has been determined by clinical examination according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2010 criteria. All study participants underwent measurements of nasal mucociliary clearance duration by the same individual. Results: The mean age was 38.7 ± 1.8 years in FM group, while it was 37.05 ± 1.8 years in control. The mean duration of nasal mucociliary clearance were 8.06 ± 0.5 minutes in FM group, and 5.86 ± 0.4 minutes in control. The duration of nasal mucociliary clearance was longer in FM patients than controls (p=0.0005). The duration of mucociliary clearance was found positively correlated with visual analog scale (VAS) score (r=0.423; p=0.005). Conclusion: There was a significant prolonged nasal mucociliary clearance duration inpatients with FMand positively correlated with pain score. Clinically, women with FM should be followed up for possible adverse effects of prolonged mucociliary clearance duration such as sinonasal and middle ear infections.