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Updated: Jun 9, 2025
Author Spotlight: Methodologies and Advancements of Chronic Pain Management Research
Published on: January 5, 2024
A functional exercise program improves pain and health related quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia: a
Giovana Fernandes1, Michele Nery1, Sandra Mara Meireles1
1Rheumatology Division, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Botucatu, 740, São Paulo, SP, CEP: 04023-900, Brazil.
Background/Objective:
Fibromyalgia is a non-inflammatory syndrome characterized by generalized muscle pain, with other symptoms. Numerous forms of physical training for this population have been studied through high-quality randomized clinical trials involving strength, flexibility, aerobic conditioning and multicomponent exercise interventions. This research evaluated the effectiveness of a functional exercise program at reducing pain, improving functional capacity, increasing muscle strength as well as improving flexibility, balance and quality of life in individuals with fibromyalgia.
Methods:
Eighty-two women with fibromyalgia were randomized into two groups. The functional exercise group performed functional exercises in 45-minute sessions twice per week for 14 weeks. The stretching exercise group performed flexibility exercises with the same duration and frequency. Outcome measures were: visual analog scale for widespread pain; Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire for health-related quality of life; Timed Up and Go test for functional performance; one-repetition maximum for muscle strength, Sit and Reach test on Wells bench for flexibility; Berg Balance Scale for balance; SF-36 for general quality of life.
Results:
After the intervention, the functional exercise group had a statistically significant reduction in pain (interaction p = 0.002), and improvement in health-related quality of life measured by the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (interaction p < 0.001) and in general health state domain of SF-36 (interaction p = 0.043) compared to the stretching exercise group. No significant differences between groups were found regarding improvements in functional capacity, muscle strength, flexibility or balance.
Conclusion:
Functional exercise training was effective at reducing pain and improving quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia compared to stretching exercises.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03682588 First prospectively registered in March 2018.
