Authors' objectives: To determine whether there is any evidence to support the (causal) association between (shoulder and neck) sprain/strain and the development of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or fibromyalgia.

Authors' results and conclusions: Sixty-one published studies, potentially reporting on sprain/strain and ME/CFS was identified while on fibromyalgia and sprain/strain identified 44 published studies. No relevant published study was identified after examining the titles and abstracts on these 10 published studies on the role of sprain/strain in the development of ME/CFS or fibromyalgia. Eleven published study on ME/CFS and physical trauma was identified. On the role of physical trauma and fibromyalgia, identified 49 published studies. Upon examination on the titles and abstracts of these 59 studies, 11 studies, one on ME/CFS and 11 studies on fibromyalgia, were thought to be relevant and were retrieved in full for further appraisal. A further six published studies on ME/CFS and 10 published studies on fibromyalgia were identified from manual searches. Overall, 28 studies, seven studies on ME/CFS and 21 studies on fibromyalgia, were retrieved in full for further appraisal. Of the 28 studies that were retrieved in full, 23 studies were not relevant to the objective of this systematic review or did not provide any relevant data. At present, there are no studies reporting the (causal) association between sprain/strain and the development of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome. At present, there are no studies reporting the (causal) association between (any) physical injury and the development of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic fatigue syndrome. At present, there are no studies reporting the (causal) association between sprain/strain and the development of Fibromyalgia. At present, there is some conflicting evidence on the potential association between (any) physical injury and the development of Fibromyalgia. However, the evidence of such association must be interpreted with caution since the potential effect of bias, chance and confounding cannot be excluded from affecting the observed outcome. Given the status of the currently available evidence, it is not possible to establish the causal association between (any) physical injury and the development of Fibromyalgia.

Authors' methods: A comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted on May 15, 2024. The search was done on commercial medical literature databases. We began our search by looking into the role of sprain/strain and the development of ME/CFS or fibromyalgia. After examining the titles and abstracts of our findings on the sprain/strain literature we then expanded our search to include the role of any physical injury to the development of ME/CFS or fibromyalgia. Combination of keywords were employed in these literature searches. No limitation, such as on the language or date of publication, was implemented in any of the searches. Manual searches, on the references of the articles that were retrieved in full as well as on the Evidence-Based Practice Group article collection on ME/CFS or fibromyalgia, were also conducted. It should also be noted that we traced and retrieved the relevant primary studies in the review, expert or systematic, articles identified in our literature search.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/evidence-based-medicine-and-systematic-reviews

Year Published: 2024

URL for published report: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-care-providers/guides/causal-association-between-sprain-strain-myalgic-encephalomyelitis-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-fibromyalgia?lang=en

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Mini HTA

Country: Canada

Organisation Name: WorkSafeBC

Contact Address: 6591 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC, V7C 1C6 Canada. Tel: 604-231-8417; Fax: 604-279-7698

Contact Name: ebpg@worksafebc.com

Contact Email: ebpg@worksafebc.com

Copyright: WorkSafe BC