Long-term differences in ratings of daily fatigue and pain following lifestyle physical activity (LPA) intervention in fibromyalgia patients

Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic widespread pain and debilitating fatigue. Current treatments tend to produce modest and inconsistent benefits. Lifestyle physical activity (LPA: accumulating 30 minutes of self-selected moderate intensity physical activity per day) may provide a way to improve symptoms and functioning in adults with FM. As part of a larger study investigating the effects of LPA, adults with FM who were randomized to either 12 weeks of LPA or an FM education control (FME), wore an Actigraph® (a watch-like device worn on the non-dominant wrist) to record their daily physical activity. They also used the device to rate (0=none to 10=extreme) their levels of pain and fatigue at pre-determined times throughout the day. Participants wore the Actigraph® for baseline and post-intervention follow-ups. Complete data on 18 of the participants were analyzed using a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There was a significant group difference in fatigue ratings (F(1,15)= 402.5, p=.045). The LPA group had a reduction in their mean fatigue ratings over the course of the study with a baseline of 5.22 (SD = 1.11); 3 month post-intervention of 4.45 (SD=0.95) and 6 months post-intervention of 4.00 (SD=1.04). While the mean fatigue ratings of the FME group were 5.93 (SD=2.08), 6.06 (SD=0.89) and 6.20 (SD=1.04), respectively. There was also a difference for the mean pain ratings between the groups (F(1,15)=322.7, p=.003). The ratings for the LPA group were 3.13 (SD=0.95), 3.41 (SD=0.90) and 3.11 (SD=1.15) for the baseline and 3 and 6 month post assessments, respectively. The FME group's pain ratings were 5.17 (SD=1.53), 5.04 (SD=1.34) and 5.94 (SD=1.23), respectively. These preliminary findings suggest that LPA may reduce fatigue. LPA's effects on real-time pain ratings, however, appear inconsistent. Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by chronic widespread pain and debilitating fatigue. Current treatments tend to produce modest and inconsistent benefits. Lifestyle physical activity (LPA: accumulating 30 minutes of self-selected moderate intensity physical activity per day) may provide a way to improve symptoms and functioning in adults with FM. As part of a larger study investigating the effects of LPA, adults with FM who were randomized to either 12 weeks of LPA or an FM education control (FME), wore an Actigraph® (a watch-like device worn on the non-dominant wrist) to record their daily physical activity. They also used the device to rate (0=none to 10=extreme) their levels of pain and fatigue at pre-determined times throughout the day. Participants wore the Actigraph® for baseline and post-intervention follow-ups. Complete data on 18 of the participants were analyzed using a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There was a significant group difference in fatigue ratings (F(1,15)= 402.5, p=.045). The LPA group had a reduction in their mean fatigue ratings over the course of the study with a baseline of 5.22 (SD = 1.11); 3 month post-intervention of 4.45 (SD=0.95) and 6 months post-intervention of 4.00 (SD=1.04). While the mean fatigue ratings of the FME group were 5.93 (SD=2.08), 6.06 (SD=0.89) and 6.20 (SD=1.04), respectively. There was also a difference for the mean pain ratings between the groups (F(1,15)=322.7, p=.003). The ratings for the LPA group were 3.13 (SD=0.95), 3.41 (SD=0.90) and 3.11 (SD=1.15) for the baseline and 3 and 6 month post assessments, respectively. The FME group's pain ratings were 5.17 (SD=1.53), 5.04 (SD=1.34) and 5.94 (SD=1.23), respectively. These preliminary findings suggest that LPA may reduce fatigue. LPA's effects on real-time pain ratings, however, appear inconsistent.