Frequency of joint hypermobility using Beighton's score in patients of fibromyalgia at a tertiary care hospital

Objective: To determine frequency of joint hypermobility in patients of fibromyalgia presenting to our institution. Methodology: This observational cross-sectional analytical study was conducted from June 2021 to May 2022 at Department of Medicine & Allied, Azra Naheed Medical College, Superior University, Lahore, Pakistan . Fibromyalgia was defined according to the 1990 ACR diagnostic Criteria of Fibromyalgia. Localized Joint Hypermobility was defined as <= 3 score and generalized Joint Hypermobility was defined as >= 4 score on the Beighton Score Scale. The study included 266 patients with fibromyalgia of both sexes aged between 16 years to 35 years. Joint hypermobility was assessed by using Beighton score. Results: Mean age was 26.5 +/- 4.6 years with 178 (66.9%) females. Mean BMI was 23.9 +/- 3.9 kg/m(2). Mean Beighton score was 1.1 +/- 2.4. Generalized Joint Hypermobility was seen in 34 (12.8%) patients, 23 (8.6%) had localized hypermobility whereas 209 (78.6%) had no hypermobile joints. Stratification of outcome was done with regards to age (p=0.683), sex (p=0.238) and BMI (p=0.482). Conclusion: This study showed that generalized joint hypermobility was present approximately in one out of every 10 patients and a quarter of patients had at least one clinically documented hypermobile joint.