Committed Action, Disability and Perceived Health in Individuals with Fibromyalgia

ABSTRACT

Committed action, one of the components of psychological flexibility, has been shown to be related with measures of pain-relevant function domains in patients with chronic pain. However, the associations between measures of committed action and of physical health and function in individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) have not yet been examined. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to better understand the role that committed action plays in (1) pain-related disability and (2) mental and physical health in individuals with FM. One hundred twenty-nine adult females with a diagnosis of FM from a rheumatologist were administered measures of committed action, disability, physical health, and mental health. After controlling for age and pain intensity, committed action explained an additional 24% of the variance of pain disability, 39% of the variance of physical health, and 41% of the variance of mental health. This study provides important new information on the associations between a measure of committed action and perceived health and function in a sample of women with FM. The findings are also consistent with the psychological flexibility model for understanding pain and its impact in patients with FM.

KEYWORDS:

• chronic pain
• committed action
• fibromyalgia
• psychological flexibility

Disclosure/Conflict of interest information

The authors declare no financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest related to this study.

Notes

¹ Following the most recent revisions to the 2010/2011 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria, FM could be diagnosed in adults when all of the following criteria are met: (1) generalized pain, defined as pain in at least 4 of 5 regions, is present; (2) symptoms have been present at a similar level for at least 3 months; (3) widespread pain index (WPI) ≥ 7 and symptom severity scale (SSS) score ≥ 5 OR WPI of 4–6 and SSS score ≥ 9, and (4) a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is valid irrespective of other diagnoses.²⁰

Additional information

Funding

Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness (PSI2014-60180-JIN; PSI2015-70966-P; PSI2016-82004-REDT); Obra Social de CaixaBank; European Regional Development Fund. JM is supported by the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avan¸ats (ICREA-Académia) and Fundación Grünenthal. Support for MR was provided by The Earl Russell Chair in Pain Medicine, Western Ontario University and by a bequest from Mrs. Beryl Ivey to Dr. Warren R. Nielson London, Ontario. RV is supported by a Beatriu de Pinós Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014 BP-A 00009) granted by the Agency for Administration of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).