The Experience of Stigma in People Affected by Fibromyalgia: A Metasynthesis.
Benedetta Colombo, Eleonora Zanella, Alessandro Galazzi and 1 others
PMID 39835578WHAT IT FOUND
People with fibromyalgia reported being disbelieved because symptoms are invisible, being called depressed or crazy, and hiding illness.
They said this stigma eroded trust in clinicians and worsened distress, across 206 adults in 12 qualitative studies.
Key findings
01Patients said others did not believe their experience, and their pain, fatigue and other symptoms were questioned by health care professionals, family and colleagues.
02To avoid stigma, patients often withdrew socially or hid their diagnosis.
03Patients linked stigma to loss of trust in health care professionals and increased physical and psychological suffering.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The synthesis covers 12 qualitative studies and 206 adults (182 women and 24 men), so it may not represent men or other groups. The included studies had heterogeneous aims, and only two studies analysed stigma directly, while others explored it indirectly. The researcher's cultural, philosophical and theoretical position was rarely stated, which can affect how qualitative data are interpreted. The authors noted that querying only biomedical databases may have limited capture of psycho-social perspectives. The study reports patients' experiences and themes, not measured effects of any intervention.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that validating fibromyalgia or educating patients will reduce stigma or improve outcomes. This metasynthesis reports patients' experiences and themes, not a tested intervention.