In the United States, 423 people with dermatomyositis (n=183), polymyositis (109) or inclusion myositis (131), most of which had been previously diagnosed one to five years earlier, responded to a questionnaire distributed by a patient and caregiver organisation, Myositis Support and Understanding. The analysis of their answers shows that :
- 91.5% of them reported current or past pain, attributed in 99% of cases to inflammatory myopathy;
- this rate is lower in inclusion myositis (80.9%) than in polymyositis (94.5%) and dermatomyositis (97.2%), after the age of 60 than before and for men than for women;
- 86.5% of patients reporting pain take analgesics, opioids (69%) and/or non-opioids (92.8%);
- opioid use is more frequent in polymyositis.
The authors point out the need to continue to study the pain that accompanies myositis, its impact on quality of life and the effectiveness of the various therapeutic strategies.
