Survey of physician experiences and perceptions about the diagnosis and treatment of fibromyalgia

Table 1 Characteristics of the physician sample

	PCP (n=809)^a	Rheumatologist (n=206)^b	Neurologist (n=201)^c	Psychiatrist (n=204)^d	Pain specialist (n=202)^e
Years in practice, mean n	20.1^c	18.9	17.8	20.8^c	19.5
Total patients per month estimate, mean n	614.6^{b, c, d, e}	355.4^{d, e}	322.3^d	215.2	267.1^d
Seen FM patient in the last 2 years, yes %	79^d	93^{a, c, d, e}	79^d	63	87^{a, c, d}
**FM patients in the last 2 years,*** mean n	31.5	126.9^{a, c, d}	53.1^{a, d}	26.0	86.8^{a, d}
**FM patients in the past 2 years who are women,*** mean %	83.6	87.7^{a, c, d, e}	84.1	83.9	82.3
Find FM difficult to diagnose ^† , %	61^{b, c, d, e}	31	50^b	53^b	50^b
Training in FM ^‡
Mean score	2.2	2.7^{a, c, d, e}	2.5^{a, d}	2.1	2.5^{a, d}
Excellent, %	4	16^{a, c, d}	9^{a, d}	3	10^{a, d}
Adequate, %	33	52%^{a, d}	45%^{a, d}	32%	46%^{a, d}
Very little, %	45%^{b, c, d, e}	23	33^b	37^b	29
None at all, %	17^b	9	13	27^{a, b, c, e}	14
Knowledge about FM ^§
Mean score	2.7^d	3.2^{a, c, d, e}	2.8^{a, d}	2.6	2.9^{a, d}
Very knowledgeable, %	8	33^{a, c, d, e}	15^a	9	17^{a, d}
Knowledgeable, %	55^d	54^d	54	45	59^d
Not very knowledgeable, %	34^{b, c, e}	12	25^b	39^{b, c, e}	20^b
Not at all knowledgeable, %	2	1	5^{a, b}	7^{a, b, e}	2

*Among those physicians who have seen patients with FM in the last 2 years.
^†Somewhat or very difficult to diagnose.
^‡Self-rating of training in FM: 1 = none at all; 2 = very little; 3 = adequate; 4 = excellent.
^§Self-rating of knowledge of FM: 1 = not at all knowledgeable; 2 = not very knowledgeable; 3 = knowledgeable; 4 = very knowledgeable
^a, ^b, ^c, ^d, and ^e indicate statistically significant difference (P<0.05) among the subgroups (i.e., physician specialties) being analyzed.

ISSN: 1472-6963