Surveying the International Prevalence and Nature of Eating, Drinking and Swallowing Difficulties in Adults Presenting with Fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is a centralized pain syndrome characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep and sensory issues. Fibromyalgia is present in up to 8% of the global population, disproportionally affecting females. Research acknowledges that patients with similar rheumatic/neurological disorders experience eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

The lived experiences of oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults living with fibromyalgia.

Background: Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition which has recently been linked with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties (dysphagia). However, to date, sample sizes within completed research are small and study designs heterogeneous, and therefore, little is known about the lived experiences of dysphagia among people with fibromyalgia. To go some way towards addressing this gap in the literature, this study collected and analysed the first-hand experiences of the physical symptoms, the psychosocial impacts and environmental factors that influenced the lived experience of a sample of people living with fibromyalgia-associated dysphagia.