Low-Intensity Physical Exercise Improves Pain Catastrophizing and Other Psychological and Physical Aspects in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread pain and other physical and psychological features. In this study, we aimed to analyze the effect of a low-intensity physical exercise (PE) program, combining endurance training and coordination, on psychological aspects (i.e., pain...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Izquierdo-Alventosa, Ruth, Ingles, Marta, Cortes-Amador, Sara, Gimeno-Mallench, Lucia, Chirivella-Garrido, Javier, Kropotov, Juri, Serra-Ano, Pilar
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2020
Country:España
Institution:INCLIVA
Repository:r-INCLIVA. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de INCLIVA
OAI Identifier:oai:incliva.fundanetsuite.com:p4611
Online Access:https://incliva.portalinvestigacion.com/publicaciones/4611
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:fibromyalgia
pain catastrophizing
physical exercise
Description
Summary:Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread pain and other physical and psychological features. In this study, we aimed to analyze the effect of a low-intensity physical exercise (PE) program, combining endurance training and coordination, on psychological aspects (i.e., pain catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, stress), pain perception (i.e., pain acceptance, pressure pain threshold (PPT), and quality of life and physical conditioning (i.e., self-perceived functional capacity, endurance and functional capacity, power and velocity) in women with FM. For this purpose, a randomized controlled trial was carried out. Thirty-two women with FM were randomly allocated to a PE group (PEG, n = 16), performing an eight-week low-intensity PE program and a control group (CG, n = 16). Pain catastrophizing, anxiety, depression, stress, pain acceptance, PPT, quality of life, self-perceived functional capacity, endurance and functional capacity, power, and velocity were assessed before and after the intervention. We observed a significant improvement in all studied variables in the PEG after the intervention (p < 0.05). In contrast, the CG showed no improvements in any variable, which further displayed poorer values for PPT (p < 0.05). In conclusion, a low-intensity combined PE program, including endurance training and coordination, improves psychological variables, pain perception, quality of life, and physical conditioning in women with FM.