Effects of perceptive rehabilitation and mobilization methods on symptoms and disability in patients with...

Currently, there is no definitive cure for fibromyalgia. Instead, treatments focus of reducing symptoms and disability.

This randomized controlled study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of perceptive rehabilitation and soft tissue and joint mobilization on the severity of symptoms and disability in fibromyalgia compared with a control group.

A total of 55 fibromyalgia patients were randomized into three groups: perceptive rehabilitation, mobilization, and control. The impact of fibromyalgia was evaluated using the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR; primary outcome). Pain intensity, fatigue severity, depression, and sleep quality were secondary outcome measures. Data were collected at baseline (T0), the end of treatment (8 weeks; T1), and the end of 3 months (T2).

Statistically significant differences were found in between-groups comparisons at T1 for primary and secondary outcome measurements (p < .05), except for sleep quality. Both the perceptive rehabilitation and mobilization groups had statistically significant differences at T1 over the control group (p < .05). Between-group pairwise comparisons showed statistically significant differences between the perceptive and control groups for all outcome measures at T1 (p < .05). Similarly, statistically significant differences existed between the mobilization and control groups for all outcome measures at T1 (p < .05), except the FIQR overall impact scores. All other variables except depression were statistically similar between groups at T2.

This study shows that perceptive rehabilitation and mobilization therapy are similarly effective in improving fibromyalgia symptoms and disability, but the effects disappear within 3 months. Further research is needed to understand how the improvements could be maintained longer.

Clinical Trial Registration number, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03705910.