The effects of a group exercise and education programme on symptoms and physical fitness in patients with fibromyalgia: a prospective observational cohort study

Abstract

Purpose

Given the limited attention on a combined exercise and education approach for those with chronic musculoskeletal pain disorder such as fibromyalgia, the purpose of this was to evaluate the efficacy of a combined exercise and education programme on symptoms and physical fitness in participants with fibromyalgia.

Materials and methods

Using a prospective observational cohort study, participants with fibromyalgia (n = 75) volunteered. The 6-minute-walk-test (6MWT) and revised-fibromyalgia-impact-questionnaire (FIQR) were used before, after (6 weeks) and 6-months post an exercise and education programme.

Results

Forty-three participants (age = 49.7 ± 15.2 y) completed the 6-week programme, with improvements observed for the 6MWT (67 m, p < 0.001) and FIQR (11 AU, p < 0.001), though only two (6MWT) and five (FIQR) participants, respectively, achieved the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Using 74% of the intial sample, a small-to-moderate improvement in scores were observed across the 6-month period for the 6MWT (37 m, p = 0.002) and FIQR (3 AU, p = 0.01), with only two participants achieving the MCID for the 6MWT.

Conclusions

The results in this study indiciate small-to-moderate improvements in the 6MWT and FIQR after a combined exercise and education programme, with direct delivery being more effective.

Implications for rehabilitation

• A six-week exercise and education programme elicited moderate, short-term (6 weeks) benefits on physical fitness and key symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia.

• On average, these benefits were sustained in the long-term (6 months) following the programme but were small-to-moderate and lower than the MCID.

• Regular follow-up may be required to improve adherence to the education and exercise programme and maintain or increase the observed improvements in 6MWT and FIQR.

Keywords:

• Fibromyalgia
• fatigue
• aerobic fitness
• self-management
• response variability

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the therapists who assisted in the delivery of the programmes. Special thanks to Mr. William Morris for his dedication and support with data collection. Finally, we would like to thank all the participants who participated in this study. This research has not been previously presented in any format including conferences, congress abstract or pre-publication archiving.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care at Manchester Metropolitan University (Ph/16/1) and all participants signed written informed consent after they had been informed of the details of the study.

Author contributions

NL and JC were responsible for the conception and organisation of the research project, designed and executed all procedures. ND was responsible for data analysis and presentation. NL wrote the initial draft whilst JC and ND critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors contributed to the writing of the final manuscript and approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.