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Abstract

Objective: The aim of this work was to study the prevalence and factors associated with fibromyalgia in African Black rheumatoid arthritis patients in the south of the Sahara.
Method: It was a cross-sectional case-control study conducted from January 2017 to June 2017. Seventy-five rheumatoid arthritis patients (case) and 150 healthy subjects without rheumatoid arthritis (controls) were consecutively recruited during the rheumatology consultation period were include.
Result: The mean duration of rheumatoid arthritis was 3.75 years ± 3.60. The mean Disease Activity Score (DAS)28 was 5.68 ± 0.91. Forty-eight rheumatoid arthritis patients (64.0%) and 20 controls (13.3%) respectively had fibromyalgia. The difference was statistically significant (p <0.0001). Among the risk factors for fibromyalgia that were studied, only the absence of rheumatoid factors was associated with the presence of fibromyalgia.
Conclusion: The prevalence of fibromyalgia was significantly higher during rheumatoid arthritis than in a healthy control.