A functional exercise program improves pain and health related quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial

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.