[Interdisciplinary group therapy for fibromyalgia]

Fibromyalgia is present in 2% of the general population and leads to impairment by chronic pain and fatigue. It does not improve without therapy directed at the symptoms of fibromyalgia. We describe our interdisciplinary group treatment for patients with fibromyalgia. They received a physical examination, ergometry and psychometric tests both at admission and before discharge, and they were questioned to the degree and localization of their pain, to fatigue, sleeping disorders and functional symptoms. Therapy included information about fibromyalgia, learning of coping strategies, relaxation and endurance training. Our results show that our interdisciplinary group treatment is effective for fibromyalgia and improves anxiety, depression and well being after a period of 5 weeks of in-patient rehabilitation.