Fibromyalgia: a quality of life particularly influenced by pain

Moderate to severe fibromyalgia pain characteristics significantly affect the quality of life of patients, indicate the results of a study published in the specialized "Arthritis Care & Research" magazine, which also show, on the contrary, a decision Effective management of the pain you can save a significant improvement in the quality of life of fibromyalgia.
In this study, Robert Bennett, Oregon Health and Science University, and colleagues sought to clarify the relationship between quality of life and pain in people with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by diffuse muscle and joint pain , sleep disorders and severe fatigue.

A total of 313 fibromyalgia patients (who were treated for three months or by a weak opioid, a level II analgesic classification of the World Health Organization or WHO, or placebo) participated in this investigation. They were asked to complete two questionnaires: one designed to evaluate the quality of life of a person based on their overall health (the 36-item Short form health survey, and SF36) and the second dealing specifically with the impact of fibromyalgia on quality of life (scale FIQ, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire).

The results recorded by participants were compared with those obtained by the same tests a representative sample of the U.S. population not living in institutions. The researchers have found that regardless of the component of the SF-36 considered (physical or mental), the scores show fibromyalgia is consistently lower than those in the control group.

Another comparison was made with respect to the results obtained by heart failure, whose quality of life is also affected by the disease they suffer, these two scales. It is then clear that, for most components of the various tools used, fibromyalgia scored lower than those recorded by heart failure scores.

Further analysis has mounted that fibromyalgia complaining of severe pain most are those whose quality of life shows the most affected by the disease, the authors note.

Conversely, patients with analgesic treatment proved most effective saw their scores improve quality of life to a greater degree than those who experienced only a small relief from their pain.

Finally, it appeared that the analgesic tested in this study is relatively efficient, since the scores of 156 fibromyalgia patients treated with the active ingredient showed a larger increase than the 157 patients who received placebo on various components of the rating scales used in this study (such as pain, stiffness, or the ability to take a business, for example).

This study demonstrates that to relieve pain can limit the impact of fibromyalgia on quality of life of people suffering from this condition, the authors conclude. Additional studies are still needed to determine whether the management of other symptoms of fibromyalgia can make additional improvements to the quality of life of patients.