The association between borderline personality disorder, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome: systematic review

BACKGROUND: Overlap of aetiological factors and demographic characteristics with clinical observations of comorbidity has been documented in fibromyalgia syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). AIMS: The purpose of this study was to assess the association of BPD with fibromyalgia syndrome and CFS. The authors reviewed literature on the prevalence of BPD in patients with fibromyalgia or CFS and vice versa. METHODS: A search of five databases yielded six eligible studies. A hand search and contact with experts yielded two additional studies. We extracted information pertaining to study setting and design, demographic information, diagnostic criteria and prevalence. RESULTS: We did not identify any studies that specifically assessed the prevalence of fibromyalgia or CFS in patients with BPD. Three studies assessed the prevalence of BPD in fibromyalgia patients and reported prevalence of 1.0, 5.25 and 16.7%. Five studies assessed BPD in CFS patients and reported prevalence of 3.03, 1.8, 2.0, 6.5 and 17%. CONCLUSIONS: More research is required to clarify possible associations between BPD, fibromyalgia and CFS. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.