ABSTRACT:
Objectives: The study aimed to assess the relationship between fibromyalgia syndrome and its related symptoms with acne vulgaris in a sample of Iraqi patients. Patient and method: One hundred acne patients and one hundred age- and sex-matched apparently healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. A special questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study was used for recording information from the patients and controls. The 2012 Canadian Guidelines for diagnosis of fibromyalgia were used to diagnose FMS among patients and controls and acne severity was assessed using Global Acne Grading System method. Results: This study showed that there was a three-folds increase in the risk of developing fibromyalgia syndrome among acne patients compared to normal individuals (12% vs. 4%). Moreover, widespread pain, cognitive disturbance and anxiety were significantly higher among acne patients compared to healthy individuals. It was found that there was a four times increase in the risk of having fibromyalgia syndrome with the increase in the duration of acne. In addition to that, widespread pain, anxiety and cognitive disturbance increase significantly with the increase in its duration. Conclusions: fibromyalgia syndrome was more common in acne patients and increase with the increase in acne duration.