Musculoskeletal system
VA rating for fibromyalgia, diagnostic code 5025
Fibromyalgia is diagnostic code 5025, rated at 10, 20 or 40 percent. The symptom list the code applies to is printed once, above the three levels, and the levels themselves describe only how persistent those symptoms are and whether treatment controls them.
Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.
What each level requires
fibromyalgia is rated under diagnostic code 5025, which the schedule calls "Fibromyalgia (fibrositis, primary fibromyalgia syndrome)", at 38 CFR 4.71a.
40 percent requires
In plain English
The symptoms are constant or nearly constant and do not respond to treatment. The symptom list this attaches to is set out in the schedule above the levels: widespread musculoskeletal pain and tender points, with or without fatigue, sleep disturbance, stiffness, paresthesias, headache, irritable bowel symptoms, depression, anxiety or Raynaud's-like symptoms.
As written in 38 CFR 4.71a
That are constant, or nearly so, and refractory to therapy
20 percent requires
In plain English
The symptoms come and go, often set off by environmental or emotional stress or by overexertion, and are present more than a third of the time.
As written in 38 CFR 4.71a
That are episodic, with exacerbations often precipitated by environmental or emotional stress or by overexertion, but that are present more than one-third of the time
10 percent requires
In plain English
The symptoms require continuous medication for control.
As written in 38 CFR 4.71a
That require continuous medication for control
Notes the schedule attaches to this code
These are part of the regulation and they change how the criteria above are applied. They are reproduced word for word.
- Note: Widespread pain means pain in both the left and right sides of the body, that is both above and below the waist, and that affects both the axial skeleton ( i.e. , cervical spine, anterior chest, thoracic spine, or low back) and the extremities.
Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.71a, read on 2026-08-21. Read the section at the eCFR. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the date above is the date this text was checked and not the date it was written.
One symptom list, three degrees of persistence
Derived from the regulation
The schedule sets out the condition once, above the levels: widespread musculoskeletal pain and tender points, with or without associated fatigue, sleep disturbance, stiffness, paresthesias, headache, irritable bowel symptoms, depression, anxiety or Raynaud's-like symptoms.
Each level then describes what has become of those symptoms. Ten percent is "That require continuous medication for control". Twenty percent is "That are episodic, with exacerbations often precipitated by environmental or emotional stress or by overexertion, but that are present more than one-third of the time". Forty percent is "That are constant, or nearly so, and refractory to therapy".
Read as a set, the scale measures two things: how much of the time symptoms are present, and whether treatment works. It contains no count of tender points and no functional measurement.
How the code defines its own key term
Derived from the regulation
The note attached to code 5025 defines widespread pain and does so anatomically rather than by severity. Pain must be on both the left and right sides of the body, both above and below the waist, and must affect both the axial skeleton and the extremities.
The note then names what counts as the axial skeleton for this purpose: the cervical spine, anterior chest, thoracic spine or low back.
That is four separate requirements in one sentence, and all four are anatomical distribution rather than intensity. It is the most specific thing in the code.
When fibromyalgia entered the schedule
Derived from the regulation
Fibromyalgia is a relatively recent addition to the musculoskeletal schedule.
Appendix A to Part 4 records one date for code 5025: "Added May 7, 1996."
The Federal Register line beneath the section covers all of 4.71a: 29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 34 FR 5062, Mar. 11, 1969; 40 FR 42536, Sept. 15, 1975; 41 FR 11294, Mar. 18, 1976; 43 FR 45350, Oct. 2, 1978; 51 FR 6411, Feb. 24, 1986; 61 FR 20439, May 7, 1996; 67 FR 48785, July 26, 2002; 67 FR 54349, Aug. 22, 2002; 68 FR 51456, Aug. 27, 2003; 69 FR 32450, June 10, 2004; 80 FR 42041, July 16, 2015; 85 FR 76460, Nov. 30, 2020, 85 FR 85523, Dec. 29, 2020, 86 FR 8142, Feb. 4, 2021. Read 2026-08-21.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for fibromyalgia in one view, plain English on the left and the regulation itself on the right, in a layout built to print.
It is free and it never says which level anyone meets. It describes what each one requires and leaves the reading to the person whose record it is.
Sources
- 38 CFR 4.71a, Schedule of ratings, musculoskeletal system (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- Appendix A to Part 4, Table of Amendments and Effective Dates Since 1946 (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the retrieval date above is what this page is accurate as of.