{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T03:18:15Z","timestamp":1791861495101,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769731200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Persistent musculoskeletal pain has been increasingly reported following COVID-19 infection. However, the association between post-COVID-19 infection and fibromyalgia diagnosed using standardized criteria remains incompletely understood. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between post-COVID-19 infection and fibromyalgia diagnosed according to the 2016 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Methods: In this case\u2013control study, individuals with post-COVID-19 infection were compared with COVID-19-negative controls. Fibromyalgia was diagnosed using the ACR 2016 criteria. Clinical assessments were performed under standardized conditions. Patients with ongoing symptoms compatible with long COVID were excluded based on clinical evaluation. Results: The prevalence of fibromyalgia was significantly higher in participants with post-COVID-19 infection compared with controls. Individuals in the post-COVID group demonstrated higher odds of meeting ACR 2016 fibromyalgia criteria and exhibited greater symptom burden across clinical measures. These findings indicate a robust association between post-COVID-19 infection and subsequent fibromyalgia diagnosis. Conclusions: Post-COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased likelihood of fibromyalgia diagnosed using standardized criteria. While causality cannot be inferred due to the observational design, the findings highlight the importance of considering fibromyalgia in patients presenting with persistent musculoskeletal pain after COVID-19 and support further longitudinal and mechanistic research. These findings should be interpreted in light of the observational design and potential selection bias inherent to the case\u2013control methodology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15031098","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T11:09:22Z","timestamp":1769771362000},"page":"1098","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Association Between Post-COVID-19 Infection and Fibromyalgia: A Controlled Case\u2013Control Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ayse","family":"Oz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Battalgazi State Hospital, 44320 Malatya, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tulay","family":"Yildirim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Inonu University Turgut \u00d6zal Medical Center, 44280 Malatya, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e4","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jinf.2020.08.029","article-title":"Post discharge persistent symptoms and health related quality of life after hospitalization for COVID-19","volume":"81","author":"Garrigues","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Infect."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e210830","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2021.0830","article-title":"Sequelae in adults at 6 months after COVID-19 infection","volume":"4","author":"Logue","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Netw. Open."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1016\/j.semarthrit.2016.08.012","article-title":"2016 revisions to the 2010\/2011 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria","volume":"46","author":"Wolfe","year":"2016","journal-title":"Semin. Arthritis Rheum."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2098","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(21)00392-5","article-title":"Nociplastic pain: Towards an understanding of prevalent pain conditions","volume":"397","author":"Fitzcharles","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e001735","DOI":"10.1136\/rmdopen-2021-001735","article-title":"Fibromyalgia: A new facet of the post-COVID-19 syndrome spectrum? Results from a web-based survey","volume":"7","author":"Ursini","year":"2021","journal-title":"RMD Open."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"e42663","article-title":"A cross-sectional study of fibromyalgia and post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS): Could there be a relationship?","volume":"15","author":"Akel","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Savin, E., Rosenn, G., Tsur, A.M., Hen, O., Ehrenberg, S., Gendelman, O., Buskila, D., Halpert, G., Amital, D., and Amital, H. (2023). The possible onset of fibromyalgia following acute COVID-19 infection. PLoS ONE, 18.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0281593"},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"306","article-title":"Prevalence of fibromyalgia in post-COVID-19 patients","volume":"3","author":"Arshad","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Med. Health Res."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpain.2023.08.011","article-title":"Prevalence and risk factors of de novo widespread post-COVID pain in nonhospitalized COVID-19 survivors: A nationwide exploratory population-based survey","volume":"25","author":"Ebbesen","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Pain"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1136\/ard-2023-224250","article-title":"Rheumatology and long COVID: Lessons from the study of fibromyalgia","volume":"83","author":"Clauw","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ann. Rheum. Dis."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e397","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000003629","article-title":"Postacute COVID-19 syndrome and fibromyalgia syndrome are associated with anti-satellite glial cell IgG serum autoantibodies but only fibromyalgia syndrome serum-IgG is pronociceptive","volume":"166","author":"Berwick","year":"2025","journal-title":"PAIN"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2002","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000003259","article-title":"Small fibre neuropathy frequently underlies the painful long COVID syndrome","volume":"165","author":"Falco","year":"2024","journal-title":"PAIN"}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/3\/1098\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]],"date-time":"2026-01-30T11:32:31Z","timestamp":1769772751000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/3\/1098"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm15031098"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm15031098","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,30]]}}}