RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Fibromyalgia and Physical Trauma: The Concepts We Invent JF The Journal of Rheumatology JO J Rheumatol FD The Journal of Rheumatology SP 1737 OP 1745 DO 10.3899/jrheum.140268 VO 41 IS 9 A1 Frederick Wolfe A1 Winfried Häuser A1 Brian T. Walitt A1 Robert S. Katz A1 Johannes J. Rasker A1 Anthony S. Russell YR 2014 UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/41/9/1737.abstract AB Despite weak to nonexistent evidence regarding the causal association of trauma and fibromyalgia (FM), literature and court testimony continue to point out the association as if it were a strong and true association. The only data that appear unequivocally to support the notion that trauma causes FM are case reports, cases series, and studies that rely on patients’ recall and attribution — very low-quality data that do not constitute scientific evidence. Five research studies have contributed evidence to the FM-trauma association. There is no scientific support for the idea that trauma overall causes FM, and evidence in regard to an effect of motor vehicle accidents on FM is weak or null. In some instances effect may be seen to precede cause. Alternative causal models that propose that trauma causes “stress” that leads to FM are unfalsifiable and unmeasurable.