Well, this kind of took me by surprise.

It seems that while I was watching Grey’s Anatomy and Lost finales, and before that getting laid off and starting a new business, the American College of Rheumatology came up with alternate diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia diagnosis.

Tender Points Versus the New Criteria

Up until now, the main criteria was the direct “tender point” palpation test, where if you experienced pain in 11 or more out of 18 specific tender points, plus widespread pain for at least three months, then you won the fluffy pink stuffed rabbit.

Now, it seems, the ACR has proposed an alternative diagnostic methodology. The new method consists of a multi-part inquiry into pain and other symptoms over the past week, in addition to the usual “for at least three months” and “nothing else explains your symptoms” requirements.

There are basically two sets of scores — the WPI and the SS. The WPI (Widespread Pain Index) is based on nineteen separate body areas (upper left arm, lower right leg, lower back, etc.) and your experience of pain in those areas over the prior week. The total number of these areas in which you’ve experienced pain is your WPI score.

Next, the inquiry looks at your Symptom Severity (SS) score. This is a range from 0 to 12, and is calculated by your assessment of the severity of your fatigue, waking unrefreshed, and cognitive impairment symptoms, plus how many other symptoms out of a prescribed list you’ve experienced. The diagnosis looks at both sets of scores – you need a certain score on both matrices in order to receive the FM diagnosis.

Potential Impact of New Fibromyalgia Criteria

FMNetwork has a somewhat critical take on the new methodology along with a fairly short survey you can take to see if you would fit the new diagnostic criteria. It took me about ten minutes to complete, is confidential (no identifying information other than age and gender are required), and gives you a much clearer idea of what the new criteria are all about than simply reading a blog post. The link to the survey is at the bottom of the FMNetwork post linked to earlier in this paragraph.

There is also a PDF copy of the survey you can print out and take with you to your doctor.

So what’s your take on the new criteria? I understand the skepticism voiced in the FMNetwork blog post — that this might dilute the “meaning” of fibromyalgia, that it could lead to more diagnosed cases which could further undermine credibility … I have to disagree.

It seems to me that we’re no longer simply talking about pain when we discuss diagnoses, but the entire range of all of our symptoms. I don’t see how that can be anything other than a positive development. Pain is always a subjective topic — your “2 on a scale of 1 to 10” might feel like my “8,” for all we know — and that’s one reason, I think, why it’s always subject to such skepticism from others. But when we’re talking about things like (sorry) diarrhea and constipation, blurred vision, bladder problems, cognitive difficulties … this paints a far more accurate picture of what it means to have FM.

Of course, it’s far too early to make any grand pronouncements on this topic right now. It’ll take medical providers using the new criteria for some extended period of time before we can say with certainty what effect it will have.

Grateful hat-tip to Deanna’s Blog for the head’s up on this.