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Efficacy of a multidisciplinary treatment program in patients with severe fibromyalgia

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a multidisciplinary treatment program in patients severely affected by fibromyalgia. Thirty-four fibromyalgia patients were randomly divided into two groups. The control group: 17 women who continued their medical treatment and participated in four educational sessions and the experimental group that included 17 patients who besides the former medical treatment also underwent a weekly 1-h session program for 8 weeks including massage therapy, ischemic pressure on the 18 tender points, aerobic exercise and thermal therapy. At the beginning of the program, there were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the parameters. At the end of treatment, there was a significant improvement in the experimental group in the following items: vitality, social functioning, grip strength and the 6-min walk test. At 1 month after the end of treatment, the experimental group showed significant differences in overall health perception, social functioning, grip strength and the 6-min walk test. At that time, considering the threshold for clinical efficacy set at an improvement of 30% or above for the analyzed variables, 25% of the patients met the requirement for improvement of the following: number of symptoms: Visual Analogic Scale for fatigue, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and Beck Anxiety Inventory. In conclusion, patients with severe manifestations of fibromyalgia can obtain improvement with a short-term, low-cost and simple-delivery multidisciplinary program. However, additional studies including higher numbers of patients are needed to confirm the beneficial effect of this treatment program.

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Abbreviations

ACEF:

Association of Fibromyalgia Patients of Cantabria

ACR:

American College of Rheumatology

NSAIDs:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

ANOVA:

Variance analysis

BAI:

Beck Anxiety Inventory

BDI:

Beck Depression Inventory

VAS:

Visual Analog Scale

FIQ:

Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire

FM:

Fibromyalgia

FSS:

Fatigue Severity Scale

HAQ:

Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire

HAS:

Hamilton Anxiety Scale

MPQ:

McGill Pain Questionnaire

MT:

Multidisciplinary treatment

NS:

No significant differences

PSQI:

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index

SER:

Spanish society of rheumatology

SF-36:

Medical outcomes survey short form-36

TP:

Tender Points

ZDS:

Zung Depression Scale

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Acknowledgments

Our appreciation to: ACEF (Association of Fibromyalgia from Cantabria) for their participation in the study. To Ms. María Nieves Ortega Fernández, Graduate in Philosophy and Arts, and to Mr. Alberto Luceño Vázquez, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cantabria, for his collaboration in the collection and statistical analysis of data.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Service at the Specialist Clinic of Cantabria, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

    Benigno Casanueva-Fernández

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Computational Biology, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria, IFIMAV, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

    Javier Llorca

  3. Rheumatology Service at IMAS, Barcelona, Cantabria, Spain

    Josep Blanch i Rubió

  4. Centro Rodero, Neurosciencies Clinic, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

    Baltasar Rodero-Fernández

  5. Rheumatology Service, Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, IFIMAV, Avenida Valdecilla S/n, 39008, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

    Miguel A. González-Gay

Authors
  1. Benigno Casanueva-Fernández
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  2. Javier Llorca
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  3. Josep Blanch i Rubió
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  4. Baltasar Rodero-Fernández
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  5. Miguel A. González-Gay
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel A. González-Gay.

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Casanueva-Fernández, B., Llorca, J., Rubió, J.B.i. et al. Efficacy of a multidisciplinary treatment program in patients with severe fibromyalgia. Rheumatol Int 32, 2497–2502 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-2045-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-2045-1

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