Effects of home-based exercise on the health of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials

Purpose: Analyze the effects of interventions with home-based physical exercise on the health of patients with fibromyalgia and the characteristics of the protocols used. Methods: This systematic review was registered at PROSPERO and followed the PRISMA recommendations. Searches were performed in six electronic databases. Eligibility criteria for the selection of studies were compiled using the acronym PICOS. Data were extracted and checked in a Microsoft Excel (R) spreadsheet and the risk of bias was assessed using the Rob 2 tool. Results: The search resulted in seven studies included for analysis. Among them, the most common modality was aerobic exercise. The analyzed outcomes were: pain, quality of life, depression, anxiety, disease severity, physical function, pain catastrophizing, self-efficacy, psychological well-being, sleep quality and somatosensory and temporal discrimination. The effects of home-based exercise are limited, and improvements in pain and quality of life was found. For the other outcomes, the results were inconclusive. Most studies presented some concerns about the risk of bias. Conclusion: It is necessary to expand the evidence on home-based exercises for fibromyalgia, as this is the first systematic review on the subject. Subsequent research should focus on methodological rigor and protocol detail, allowing findings to be replicated. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Home-based physical exercise can improve pain and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Among the modalities, combinations of aerobic exercise, resistance training and stretching are recommended. The weekly frequency should be two or three times, with an average duration of 40minutes. Programs from four weeks onwards may already show improvement in symptoms, but the practice should be maintained in the long term.