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Updated: May 21, 2026
A Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial of Cranial Electrical Stimulation for Fibromyalgia Pain and Physical Function, Using Brain Imaging Biomarkers
Published on: January 5, 2024
Long-term maintenance of response across multiple fibromyalgia symptom domains in a randomized withdrawal study of
Lynne Pauer1, Gary Atkinson, T Kevin Murphy
1Pfizer Global Research and Development, New London, CT, USA. lynne.pauer@pfizer.com
Objective:
To determine the incidence and duration of response of clinically meaningful improvements with pregabalin across several key symptoms of fibromyalgia (FM).
Methods:
This was a post hoc analysis of data from a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, withdrawal study, originally designed to evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin monotherapy for durability of effect on FM pain based on pain and Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) criteria. Responder criteria for Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire total score (≥16-point change), Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Scale Sleep Disturbance subscale (≥15.8-point change), and the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey Vitality scale (≥10-point change) were used to evaluate the incidence and duration of improvements in function, sleep, and fatigue for pregabalin versus placebo among pain and PGIC responders. A composite responder index consisting of pain, PGIC, function, and sleep endpoints was used to explore multidimensional response.
Results:
Approximately 80% of patients meeting pain and PGIC improvement criteria at randomization had clinically meaningful improvement in fatigue, sleep, or function. Higher proportions of patients in the pregabalin group maintained a clinically meaningful response, and pregabalin-treated patients had a significantly longer time to loss of therapeutic response compared with the placebo group. Composite responder Kaplan-Meier analysis, performed with patients demonstrating clinically meaningful improvements in pain, PGIC, function, and sleep at randomization showed a significantly longer median time to loss of therapeutic response for pregabalin-treated patients.
Discussion:
The results from this post hoc analysis indicate that pregabalin provides long-term effects across multiple domains of FM (ClinicalTrials.gov registry ID: NCT00151489).
