Abstract / Summary
Abstract Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with substantial symptom burden, functional impairment, and lower quality of life, but data on caregiver burden remain limited. This multicenter cross-sectional study assessed caregiver burden, quality of life (QoL), and associated factors among informal unpaid family caregivers of patients with FM recruited consecutively from two rheumatology centers between November 2025 and March 2026. FM impact was evaluated using the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), caregiver burden using the Arabic abridged Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-12), and caregiver QoL using the Arabic WHOQOL-BREF. Overall, 130 patient–caregiver pairs were included. Patients had a mean age of 45.35 ± 10.72 years, 88.5% were female, and the mean FIQR score was 70.99 ± 19.52. Caregivers had a mean age of 39.55 ± 13.45 years, 85.4% lived with the patient, and the mean ZBI-12 score was 14.15 ± 10.82. Higher ZBI-12 scores correlated with higher FIQR scores (ρ = 0.36, p < 0.001) and lower environment (ρ = −0.51, p < 0.001) and psychological WHOQOL-BREF scores (ρ = −0.46, p < 0.001). In adjusted models, higher FIQR scores remained associated with higher caregiver burden and lower WHOQOL-BREF scores across all domains. These findings support considering caregiver outcomes when evaluating the impact of FM.