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Assessment of hand function and disability in fibromyalgia

Beurteilung der Handfunktion und Funktionsstörungen bei Fibromyalgie

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Abstract

Objective

Fibromyalgia, a potentially debilitating chronic pain syndrome, is a chronic disease. We aimed to compare the hand function of fibromyalgia (FM) patients and healthy individuals and to demonstrate the relationship between hand disability and FM.

Patients and methods

The study was consisted of 40 female patients with FM and 30 healthy controls. All participants were evaluated for pain threshold measurements, handgrip strength, and pinch strength. Functional states, hand disability, and hand skills and coordination were evaluated using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) form, the Disability of Arm–Shoulder–Hand (DASH) questionnaire and the Purdue Pegboard Test, respectively.

Results

Handgrip strength values, DASH score, lateral pinch strength test, Pegboard placement time, and Pegboard collection time of the patient group were significantly lower than those of the control group (all p < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between FIQ score and handgrip strength, two-point pinch strength test, three-point pinch strength test, and lateral pinch strength test in patients with moderate FM (all p < 0.05). Furthermore, a correlation was observed between DASH score and handgrip strength, lateral pinch strength test, Purdue Pegboard placement time, and Purdue Pegboard collection time in patients with moderate FM (all p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Our results show that hand function was decreased in patients with FM compared to healthy controls and decreasing hand function was influenced by FIQ score. As a result, the evaluation of hand function should be taken into consideration in the management of FM.

Zusammenfassung

Ziel

Fibromyalgie, ein potenziell beeinträchtigendes chronisches Schmerzsyndrom, ist eine chronische Krankheit. Ziel der Autoren war es, die Handfunktion von Patienten mit Fibromyalgie (FM) und gesunden Personen zu vergleichen und den Zusammenhang zwischen Funktionseinschränkungen der Hand und FM zu demonstrieren.

Patienten und Methoden

Die Gruppe der Studienteilnehmer bestand aus 40 weiblichen Patienten mit FM und 30 gesunden Kontrollen. Alle Teilnehmer wurden auf Schmerzschwellenmessungen, Griffkraft und Daumenkraft untersucht. Funktionszustand, Funktionseinschränkungen der Hand sowie Fingerfertigkeit und -koordination wurden anhand des Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), des Fragebogens Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand, (DASH, Arm-Schulter-Hand-Fragebogen) bzw. des Purdue-Pegboard-Tests (Stecktafel) beurteilt.

Ergebnisse

Handgriffkraftwerte, DASH-Score, lateraler Daumenkrafttest, Pegboard-Platzierungszeit und Pegboard-Sammelzeit der Patientengruppe waren signifikant niedriger als die der Kontrollgruppe (alle p < 0,05). Eine negative Korrelation wurde zwischen FIQ-Score und Griffkraft, 2‑Punkt-Daumenkrafttest, 3‑Punkt-Daumenkrafttest und dem lateralen Daumenkrafttest bei Patienten mit mittelschwerer FM gefunden (alle p < 0,05). Darüber hinaus wurde eine Korrelation zwischen dem DASH-Score und der Handgriffkraft, dem lateralen Daumenkrafttest, der Purdue-Pegboard-Platzierungszeit und der Purdue-Pegboard-Sammelzeit bei Patienten mit mittelschwerer FM beobachtet (alle p < 0,05).

Schlussfolgerungen

Die Ergebnisse der Autoren zeigen, dass die Handfunktion bei FM-Patienten im Vergleich zu gesunden Kontrollen abnahm und die Verminderung der Handfunktion durch den FIQ-Score beeinflusst wurde. Daher sollte die Beurteilung der Handfunktion bei der Behandlung der FM berücksichtigt werden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University Medical School, Rize, Turkey

    G. Devrimsel MD, A. K. Turkyilmaz, M. S. Beyazal & M. Karkucak

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  1. G. Devrimsel MD
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  2. A. K. Turkyilmaz
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  3. M. S. Beyazal
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  4. M. Karkucak
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Correspondence to G. Devrimsel MD.

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Conflict of interest

G. Devrimsel, A. K. Turkyilmaz, M. S. Beyazal and M. Karkucak declare that they have no competing interests.

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1975 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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U. Müller-Ladner, Bad Nauheim

U. Lange, Bad Nauheim

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Devrimsel, G., Turkyilmaz, A.K., Beyazal, M.S. et al. Assessment of hand function and disability in fibromyalgia. Z Rheumatol 78, 889–893 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00393-018-0558-7

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