PREVALENCE OF FIBROMYALGIA IN POST COVID-19 PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: To find the prevalence of fibromyalgia in patients who recovered from Covid-19. Methods: This descriptive cross- sectional study was conducted from February 2022 to July 2022 at different hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Non-probability sampling technique was used for collection of sample. Data was collected from 398 post Covid -19 patients. Covid patients with a recovery span of after 3 to 6 months, aged 18 to 65 years and both male and female were included; patients with hypertension, diabetes, pain due to fatigue and muscular pain were excluded from study. The data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire, which included questions related to demographics, duration of Covid-19 with other attributes such as weight, height, widespread pain index (WPI) and symptom severity scale (SSS) to assess the symptoms of fibromyalgia. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 26. Result: The mean age was 31.4±11.15 years. Among 398 participants, 212 (55.8%) were females and 168 (44.2%) were males. The overall prevalence of fibromyalgia was found to be 31.2%. The mean of Widespread Pain Index across gender was 6.40±3.433in males and 6.79±2.75 in females. The mean of Symptom Severity Scale across gender was 4.38±0.86 in males and 4.41± 0.79 in females. Conclusion: Fibromyalgia was prevalent among post covid-19 patients.