Evaluation of Stigma and Related Factors in Fibromyalgia

Stigmatization is especially studied in mental disorders such as schizophrenia. In recent years, different chronic diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and diabetes have also been shown to decrease in quality of life due to the "stigma" of these patients. Fibromyalgia patients with chronic widespread body pain and accompanying subjective fatigue, depression, and anxiety; Although there is no objective pathology from the outside, it can be stigmatized in family life, work-life and health institutions they apply for the diagnosis of pain due to the intensive complaints. The fact that the subjective complaints seen without an objective pathology are so severe makes the management of these patients difficult. To reveal the presence of stigma in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia compared with the healthy control group is the main aim of this study. It is the secondary purpose of this study to determine related factors such as gender, age, educational status, marital status, employment status, income level, pain duration, pain intensity, medications used, and social support received from patients' family and the environment. We hypothesize that this group of patients suffers more stigma and the quality of life decreases due to this stigma.