Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Are there differences in quality of life, symptomatology and functional capacity among different obesity classes in women with fibromyalgia? The al-Ándalus project

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Rheumatology International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Obesity may influence fibromyalgia severity. The present study aimed to examine fibromyalgia (FM) symptomatology, quality of life (QoL), and functional capacity across obesity class categories. A total sample of 208 obese FM patients and 108 obese control women were included in the study. The sample was further categorized following the international criteria for obesity classes: obesity I (BMI 30.0–34.99 kg/m2), obesity II (BMI 35.0–39.99 kg/m2), and obesity III (BMI ≥40.0 kg/m2). QoL was assessed by means of the Short-Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) and FM symptomatology with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). Standardized field-based fitness tests were used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, flexibility, agility, and balance. All the dimensions of QoL, as measured by SF-36, were worse in obese FM patients compared to the obese control group (all p < 0.001). Obese FM patients also scored worse in the entire functional capacity tests studied (all p < 0.001). Except for the higher FIQ-depression across obesity status categories (p < 0.05), no differences between obesity status groups were found in QoL and FM impact. However, upper-body muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness were worse across obesity class categories and pairwise comparisons showed differences mainly between obesity I and II (p < 0.05, and p < 0.01, respectively). The absence of clear differences in QoL and FM symptomatology among obesity classes suggests that just avoiding any obese status may be a useful advice for a better management of the disease. Nevertheless, upper-body muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness, which are important health indicators highly related to the mortality risk, were worse across obesity categories.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wolfe F, Smythe HA, Yunus MB, Bennett RM, Bombardier C, Goldenberg DL, Tugwell P, Campbell SM, Abeles M, Clark P et al (1990) The American college of rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Report of the multicenter criteria committee. Arthritis Rheum 33:160–172

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Abeles AM, Pillinger MH, Solitar BM, Abeles M (2007) Narrative review: the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia. Ann Intern Med 146:726–734

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Verbunt JA, Pernot DH, Smeets RJ (2008) Disability and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Health Qual Life Outcomes 6:8

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Panton LB, Kingsley JD, Toole T, Cress ME, Abboud G, Sirithienthad P, Mathis R, McMillan V (2006) A comparison of physical functional performance and strength in women with fibromyalgia, age- and weight-matched controls, and older women who are healthy. Phys Ther 86:1479–1488

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Goes SM, Bento PCB, Stefanello JMF, El Tassa KOM, Homann D, Leite N, ALF R (2013) Muscle and functional parameters of mid-age women with fibromyalgia and healthy elderly. JEPOnline 16:20–29

    Google Scholar 

  6. Mas AJ, Carmona L, Valverde M, Ribas B (2008) Prevalence and impact of fibromyalgia on function and quality of life in individuals from the general population: Results from a nationwide study in spain. Clin Exp Rheumatol 26:519–526

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Poirier P, Giles TD, Bray GA, Hong Y, Stern JS, Pi-Sunyer FX, Eckel RH (2006) Obesity and cardiovascular disease: Pathophysiology, evaluation, and effect of weight loss: an update of the 1997 american heart association scientific statement on obesity and heart disease from the obesity committee of the council on nutrition, physical activity, and metabolism. Circulation 113:898–918

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Shiri R, Solovieva S, Husgafvel-Pursiainen K, Taimela S, Saarikoski LA, Huupponen R, Viikari J, Raitakari OT, Viikari-Juntura E (2008) The association between obesity and the prevalence of low back pain in young adults: The cardiovascular risk in young finns study. Am J Epidemiol 167:1110–1119

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bond DS, Roth J, Nash JM, Wing RR (2011) Migraine and obesity: epidemiology, possible mechanisms and the potential role of weight loss treatment. Obes Rev 12:362–371

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cordero MD, Alcocer-Gomez E, Cano-Garcia FJ, Sanchez-Dominguez B, Fernandez-Riejo P, Moreno Fernandez AM, Fernandez-Rodriguez A, De Miguel M (2013) Clinical symptoms in fibromyalgia are associated to overweight and lipid profile. Rheumatol Int. doi:10.1007/s00296-012-2647-2

  11. Janke EA, Collins A, Kozak AT (2007) Overview of the relationship between pain and obesity: what do we know? Where do we go next? J Rehabil Res Dev 44:245–262

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Kim CH, Luedtke CA, Vincent A, Thompson JM, Oh TH (2012) Association of body mass index with symptom severity and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 64:222–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Aparicio VA, Ortega FB, Carbonell-Baeza A, Camiletti D, Ruiz JR, Delgado-Fernandez M (2011) Relationship of weight status with mental and physical health in female fibromyalgia patients. Obes Facts 4:443–448

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Arranz L, Canela MA, Rafecas M (2012) Relationship between body mass index, fat mass, and lean mass with sf-36 quality of life scores in a group of fibromyalgia patients. Rheumatol Int 32:3605–3611

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Okifuji A, Donaldson GW, Barck L, Fine PG (2010) Relationship between fibromyalgia and obesity in pain, function, mood, and sleep. J Pain 11:1329–1337

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Yunus MB, Arslan S, Aldag JC (2002) Relationship between body mass index and fibromyalgia features. Scand J Rheumatol 31:27–31

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Neumann L, Lerner E, Glazer Y, Bolotin A, Shefer A, Buskila D (2008) A cross-sectional study of the relationship between body mass index and clinical characteristics, tenderness measures, quality of life, and physical functioning in fibromyalgia patients. Clin Rheumatol 27:1543–1547

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Aparicio VA, Ortega FB, Carbonell-Baeza A, Gatto-Cardia CM, Sjostrom M, Ruiz JR, Delgado-Fernandez M (2013) Fibromyalgia′s key symptoms in normal weight, overweight and obese female patients. Pain Manage Nurs (In press)

  19. Mork PJ, Vasseljen O, Nilsen TI (2010) Association between physical exercise, body mass index, and risk of fibromyalgia: longitudinal data from the norwegian nord-trondelag health study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken) 62:611–617

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Okifuji A, Bradshaw DH, Olson C (2009) Evaluating obesity in fibromyalgia: neuroendocrine biomarkers, symptoms, and functions. Clin Rheumatol 28:475–478

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Okifuji A, Donaldson GW, Barck L, Fine PG (2010) Relationship between fibromyalgia and obesity in pain, function, mood, and sleep. J Pain 11:1329–1337

    Google Scholar 

  22. Atlantis E, Baker M (2008) Obesity effects on depression: systematic review of epidemiological studies. Int J Obes (Lond) 32:881–891

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Herman KM, Hopman WM, Vandenkerkhof EG, Rosenberg MW (2012) Physical activity, body mass index, and health-related quality of life in Canadian adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 44:625–636

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kelly SJ, Daniel M, Dal Grande E, Taylor A (2011) Mental ill-health across the continuum of body mass index. BMC Public Health 11:765

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Morris J, Koehn S, Happell B, Dwyer T, Moxham L (2010) Implications of excess weight on mental wellbeing. Aust Health Rev 34:368–374

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Perez M, Warren CS (2012) The relationship between quality of life, binge-eating disorder, and obesity status in an ethnically diverse sample. Obesity (Silver Spring) 20:879–885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Takahashi Y, Sakai M, Tokuda Y, Takahashi O, Ohde S, Nakayama T, Fukuhara S, Fukui T, Shimbo T (2011) The relation between self-reported body weight and health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study in japan. J Public Health (Oxf) 33:518–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Castres I, Folope V, Dechelotte P, Tourny-Chollet C, Lemaitre F (2010) Quality of life and obesity class relationships. Int J Sports Med 31:773–778

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Jia H, Lubetkin EI (2005) The impact of obesity on health-related quality-of-life in the general adult us population. J Public Health (Oxf) 27:156–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Mather AA, Cox BJ, Enns MW, Sareen J (2009) Associations of obesity with psychiatric disorders and suicidal behaviors in a nationally representative sample. J Psychosom Res 66:277–285

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Kodama S, Saito K, Tanaka S, Maki M, Yachi Y, Asumi M, Sugawara A, Totsuka K, Shimano H, Ohashi Y, Yamada N, Sone H (2009) Cardiorespiratory fitness as a quantitative predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in healthy men and women: a meta-analysis. JAMA 301:2024–2035

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Lee DC, Artero EG, Sui X, Blair SN (2010) Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness. J Psychopharmacol 24:27–35

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Haapanen-Niemi N, Miilunpalo S, Pasanen M, Vuori I, Oja P, Malmberg J (2000) Body mass index, physical inactivity and low level of physical fitness as determinants of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality—16 y follow-up of middle-aged and elderly men and women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 24:1465–1474

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Lee DC, Sui X, Artero EG, Lee IM, Church TS, McAuley PA, Stanford FC, Kohl HW 3rd, Blair SN (2011) Long-term effects of changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index on all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in men: the aerobics center longitudinal study. Circulation 124:2483–2490

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Ortega FB, Lee DC, Katzmarzyk PT, Ruiz JR, Sui X, Church TS, Blair SN (2012) The intriguing metabolically healthy but obese phenotype: Cardiovascular prognosis and role of fitness. Eur Heart J 34:389–397

    Google Scholar 

  36. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 12:189–198

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Blesa R, Pujol M, Aguilar M, Santacruz P, Bertran-Serra I, Hernandez G, Sol JM, Pena-Casanova J (2001) Clinical validity of the ‘mini-mental state’ for Spanish speaking communities. Neuropsychologia 39:1150–1157

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Boller F, Verny M, Hugonot-Diener L, Saxton J (2002) Clinical features and assessment of severe dementia. A review. Eur J Neurol 9:125–136

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Rivera J, Gonzalez T (2004) The fibromyalgia impact questionnaire: a validated Spanish version to assess the health status in women with fibromyalgia. Clin Exp Rheumatol 22:554–560

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Burckhardt CS, Clark SR, Bennett RM (1991) The fibromyalgia impact questionnaire: development and validation. J Rheumatol 18:728–733

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Bennett R (2005) The fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ): a review of its development, current version, operating characteristics and uses. Clin Exp Rheumatol 23:S154–S162

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Munguia-Izquierdo D, Segura-Jimenez V, Camiletti-Moiron D, Pulido-Martos M, Alvarez-Gallardo IC, Romero A, Aparicio VA, Carbonell-Baeza A, Delgado-Fernandez M (2012) Multidimensional fatigue inventory: Spanish adaptation and psychometric properties for fibromyalgia patients. The al-andalus study. Clin Exp Rheumatol 30:94–102

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Alonso J, Prieto L, Anto JM (1995) the spanish version of the sf-36 health survey (the sf-36 health questionnaire): an instrument for measuring clinical results. Med Clin (Barc) 104:771–776

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Rikli RE, Jones J (1999) Development and validation of a functional fitness test for community residing older adults. J Aging Phys Act 7:129–161

    Google Scholar 

  45. Wilson HD, Robinson JP, Turk DC (2009) Toward the identification of symptom patterns in people with fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum 61:527–534

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Carbonell-Baeza A, Aparicio VA, Ortega FB, Cuevas AM, Alvarez IC, Ruiz JR, Delgado-Fernandez M (2011) Does a 3-month multidisciplinary intervention improve pain, body composition and physical fitness in women with fibromyalgia? Br J Sports Med 45:1189–1195

    Google Scholar 

  47. Ruiz–Ruiz J, Mesa JL, Gutierrez A, Castillo MJ (2006) Hand size influences optimal grip span in women but not in men. J Hand Surg Am 27:897–901

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. King S, Wessel J, Bhambhani Y, Maikala R, Sholter D, Maksymowych W (1999) Validity and reliability of the 6 minute walk in persons with fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol 26:2233–2237

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Pankoff BA, Overend TJ, Lucy SD, White KP (2000) Reliability of the six-minute walk test in people with fibromyalgia. Arthritis Care Res 13:291–295

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Mannerkorpi K, Hernelid C (2005) Leisure time physical activity instrument and physical activity at home and work instrument. Development, face validity, construct validity and test-retest reliability for subjects with fibromyalgia. Disabil Rehabil 27:695–701

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Munguia-Izquierdo D, Legaz-Arrese A, Mannerkorpi K (2011) Transcultural adaptation and psychometric properties of a spanish-language version of physical activity instruments for patients with fibromyalgia. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 92:284–294

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Lake JK, Power C, Cole TJ (2000) Back pain and obesity in the 1958 British birth cohort. Cause or effect? J Clin Epidemiol 53:245–250

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Bouchard DR, McGuire KA, Davidson L, Ross R (2011) Cardiorespiratory fitness, obesity, and functional limitation in older adults. J Aging Phys Act 19:336–346

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Shang X, Liu A, Li Y, Hu X, Du L, Ma J, Xu G, Guo H, Ma G (2010) The association of weight status with physical fitness among Chinese children. Int J Pediatr 2010:515414

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Shapiro JR, Anderson DA, Danoff-Burg S (2005) A pilot study of the effects of behavioral weight loss treatment on fibromyalgia symptoms. J Psychosom Res 59:275–282

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Senna MK, Sallam RA, Ashour HS, Elarman M (2012) Effect of weight reduction on the quality of life in obese patients with fibromyalgia syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Rheumatol 31:1591–1597

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Arranz LI, Canela MA, Rafecas M (2010) Fibromyalgia and nutrition, what do we know? Rheumatol Int 30:1417–1427

    Google Scholar 

  58. Bjersing JL, Erlandsson M, Bokarewa MI, Mannerkorpi K (2013) Exercise and obesity in fibromyalgia: beneficial roles of igf-1 and resistin? Arthritis Res Ther 15:R34

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Kim CH, Luedtke CA, Vincent A, Thompson JM, Oh TH (2012) Association between body mass index and response to a brief interdisciplinary treatment program in fibromyalgia. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 91:574–583

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The study was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (I+D+I DEP2010-15639), the Granada Research of Excelence Initiative on Biohealth (GREIB), Campus BioTic, University of Granada, and the European University of Madrid (2010/04RM). This study is also being supported by grants from the University of Granada and the Spanish Ministry of Education (AP2010-0963, AP2009-3173).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    V. A. Aparicio, V. Segura-Jiménez, I. C. Álvarez-Gallardo, F. Estévez-López, D. Camiletti-Moirón, M. Delgado-Fernández & A. Carbonell-Baeza

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    V. A. Aparicio & D. Camiletti-Moirón

  3. Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    V. A. Aparicio & D. Camiletti-Moirón

  4. Department of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Science of Education, University of Jaen, Jaén, Spain

    P. A. Latorre

  5. Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Science, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

    A. Carbonell-Baeza

Authors
  1. V. A. Aparicio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. V. Segura-Jiménez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I. C. Álvarez-Gallardo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. F. Estévez-López
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. D. Camiletti-Moirón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. P. A. Latorre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M. Delgado-Fernández
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. A. Carbonell-Baeza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. A. Aparicio.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aparicio, V.A., Segura-Jiménez, V., Álvarez-Gallardo, I.C. et al. Are there differences in quality of life, symptomatology and functional capacity among different obesity classes in women with fibromyalgia? The al-Ándalus project. Rheumatol Int 34, 811–821 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-013-2908-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-013-2908-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation