Tender points, depressive and functional symptoms: Comparison between fibromyalgia and major depression

Summary The degree of symptomatic overlap between fibromyalgia and major depression should be estimated by assessing the amount of local tenderness and the frequency and severity of depressive and functional symptoms. Tender points were assessed by palpation and symptoms by psychometric scales in 30 patients with fibromyalgia and 26 patients with major depression. The patients with fibromyalgia had markedly more tender points (16.5) than the depressive patients (1.3). In contrast, depressive and functional symptoms were present in both groups of patients, and some depressive patients (26%) also suffered from clinical pain. An increased sensitivity to pressure pain clearly distinguishes fibromyalgia from depression even if there is an overlap of other symptoms.     

Need for Testing and Supplementation of Vitamin D3 After Release of COVID-19 Lockdown in Patients with Increased Musculoskeletal Pain

AimsTo evaluate vitamin D3 levels in patients who presented with increased musculo-skeletal pain after release of lockdown period when compared to pre-lockdown status.IntroductionDuring this COVID pandemic, many countries have implemented lockdown measures and people have to work from home and many students and workers have to restrict themselves to home. During this period, their outdoor activities were limited. After the partial release of this lockdown many of them started to have some kind of physical activity and started experiencing body pains. We evaluated such patients for vitamin D3 levels and symptoms of fibromyalgia.MethodsThis is a retrospective analysis of patients from age group 18–60 presented to outpatient department or on telephonic consultation after partial release of lockdown. All patients who had mild back ache before lockdown and had symptoms exaggerated during this lockdown release were included. All patients were investigated for vitamin D3, PTH, thyroid profile, liver functional and kidney functional tests.ResultsOut of 120 patients presented to us in a period of 3 months, 31 patients had increased symptoms when compared to pre-lockdown status. 20 out of 31 patients had low vitamin D3 levels. 14 patients also developed symptoms of fibromyalgia.ConclusionThere might be many reasons for increased pain during lockdown, but we focussed specially only on vitamin D3 because of its association with increased symptoms of COVID-19. This is a gentle reminder to test for vitamin D3 levels and supplement if found deficient.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43465-021-00376-8.     

Creative versus repetitive dance therapies to reduce the impact of fibromyalgia and pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and purposePhysical exercise is one of the most effective interventions to reduce fibromyalgia symptoms. Previous studies have reported benefits of dance-based intervention on the fibromyalgia impact, health-related quality of life and pain, regardless the interventions were based on creative- or repetitive dance. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of creative and repetitive dance interventions.MethodsPRISMA guidelines were followed in this systematic review. The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Trip, Google Scholar, Web of Science (WOS), Embase and Scopus databases were selected to identify potential articles. Studies were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: to be a clinical trial or a randomized controlled trial, include people with fibromyalgia, have a comparison group and evaluate the impact of the disease, pain or quality of life. Fifteen articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool.ResultsDance-based interventions significantly reduced fibromyalgia impact (standardized mean difference = −0.69), pain (standardized mean difference = −0.70 and increased quality of life (standardized mean difference = 0.43) of people with fibromyalgia. The effectiveness of dance interventions is increased when a creative component is added, since it can lead to higher improvements in pain, impact of the disease and improving quality of life.ConclusionDance-based interventions are significantly effective in reducing the impact of fibromyalgia, pain as well as increasing health-related quality of life. Subgroup analyses suggest that creative dance-based interventions could be more effective than repetitive dance-based interventions to reduce pain and fibromyalgia impact. However, results must be taken with caution due to the large heterogeneity and the small number of articles.     

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Korean fibromyalgia impact questionnaire in women patients with fibromyalgia for clinical research

Our aim was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire into Korean (KFIQ), and then evaluate its reliability and validity. The FIQ was translated into Korean by three translators and then independently translated back into English by three different translators. A total of 62 women patients with fibromyalgia (FM) were studied for the psychometric properties of the KFIQ. The mean age of the patients was 47.1 (25-73) years, and all were female. The mean KFIQ score was 48.3 (17-91), and the mean Korean health assessment questionnaire (KHAQ) score was 0.4 (0-1.7). The test-retest reliability of the KFIQ yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.85 (0.53-0.96). For the construct validity, the Spearman rank correlations of KFIQ with patient global assessments using visual analog scale (pain, 0.58; morning stiffness, 0.45; fatigue, 0.48; depression, 0.43; anxiety, 0.56; global well-being, 0.46; disease severity, 0.49; impact on life, 0.51), KHAQ (0.44), and tender points (0.60) were high and statistically significant. The KFIQ might be a reliable and valid instrument for measuring health status and physical functioning in Korean women patients with FM, but needs further study.     

针刺加电脑中频治疗纤维肌痛综合征疗效观察

目的观察针刺加电脑中频治疗纤维肌痛综合征的临床疗效。方法46例患者随机分为观察组23例和对照组23例,观察组采用针刺加电脑中频治疗,对照组口服阿米替林。治疗30天后评定疗效。结果观察组和对照组有效率均为95.65%,无显著性差异(P>0.05)。结论采用针刺加电脑中频综合治疗本病与口服西药阿米替林相比,近期疗效相当,且无不良反应。     

气功治疗纤维肌痛综合征随机对照试验的系统评价和Meta分析

目的：评价气功治疗纤维肌痛综合征的疗效及安全性。方法：纳入气功治疗纤维肌痛综合征的随机对照试验(RCT)。检索中国生物医学文献数据库（SinoMed）、国家知识基础设施数据库（CNKI）、中文科技期刊数据库（CCCD）、中国学术期刊数据库（CSPD）、PubMed、EMBASE、Cochrane Library、中国临床试验注册库。检索时间从建库至2019年7月10日,无语种限制。使用Cochrane风险评估工具进行文献质量评价并使用RevMan 5.3软件进行Meta分析,二分类变量采用相对危险度（RR）分析,连续性变量采用均差（MD）或标准化均差（SMD）,均给出95%置信区间（CI）。根据GRADE证据分级标准进行证据级别评价。结果：共纳入10项RCT涉及542名受试者。有3项中文和7项英文研究。10项研究的方法学偏倚风险较高,且方法学质量整体较低。在疼痛改善方面,气功组优于假气功（假气功：其肢体动作与气功一样,但没有冥想和口诀,并且在运动过程中自我呼吸不需要与肢体动作协调一致）组（SMD=-1.44,95%CI=-2.77,-0.11）和有氧运动组（SMD=0.96,95%CI=0.10,1.81）,气功联合药物组（包括中药和西药）的疗效优于药物组（MD=-8.94,95%CI=-15.69,-2.19）;在生命质量改善方面,气功组优于假气功组（SMD=-1.83,95%CI=-3.27,-0.39）和有氧运动组（SMD=0.98,95%CI=0.13,1.84）,气功联合药物组与药物组疗效相当（MD=-3.98,95%CI=-10.93,2.97）。生命质量采用FIQ、SF-36、CHAQ、QOML、WHOQOL-BREF量表测评。仅1项研究报告了习练气功相关的不良事件（右肩疼痛1例,足底筋膜炎1例）。GRADE分析显示为低确定性证据。结论：气功在改善纤维肌痛综合征患者的疼痛和生命质量方面可能具有潜在疗效,且比较安全。但研究设计的方法学质量较差、研究数目较少,未来仍需更多设计严谨、多中心、大样本的RCT来进一步验证气功的疗效。     

Assessment of family physicians' knowledge about fibromyalgia in Egypt

Aim of the workTo assess knowledge of Egyptian family physicians about the diagnostic criteria and treatment modalities of fibromyalgia.Subjects and methodsA questionnaire and an informed consent were sent by email to family physicians working in primary health care centers in Egypt. The questionnaire assessed 3 areas: sociodemographic and professional data; knowledge about diagnosis; and knowledge about treatment modalities. Scoring system was used to categorize levels of knowledge into very low, low, moderate, high and very high.ResultsA total of 108 family physicians responded, with a response rate of 60%.The respondents were 27 consultants, 54 specialists and 27 residents, with a median age of 33 years and a median experience of 12 years. Very low, low and moderate levels of familiarity with fibromyalgia were perceived by 28.7%, 30.6% and 28% respectively. Close to half of participants (46.2%) gained their knowledge about fibromyalgia through self-study. According to the scoring system, 39.8% had low level of knowledge about clinical presentation and 37% had the same level of knowledge about treatment modalities. About three quarters (76%) of participants agreed that patients with fibromyalgia should be referred to rheumatologists. The most common selected clinical presentations were widespread pain (94.4%) and excessive fatigue (91.7%), while the most selected treatment modalities were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (89.8%) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (47.2%).ConclusionKnowledge about clinical presentation and treatment modalities of fibromyalgia among Egyptian family physicians is low. Continuing medical education about fibromyalgia is needed to improve quality of health care.     

Do humor styles predict clinical response to the MINDSET (MINDfulneSs & EducaTion) program? A pilot study in patients with fibromyalgia

Background and aimHumor has been described as an effective coping strategy for dealing with chronic pain conditions; likewise, coping strategies predict some clinical outcomes after cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based interventions. The present study aims to preliminarily explore the role of humor styles in predicting clinical changes after the multicomponent intervention (MINDSET) that combines mindfulness and psychoeducation for fibromyalgia (FM) patients.Material and methodsA subsample of 35 patients with FM of the EUDAIMON study, a randomized controlled trial, was used for the present study; linear regressions and Spearman's correlations were computed.ResultsAffiliative humor and positive/negative ratio humor styles had a unique predictive effect on self-reported clinical changes. Significant correlations between humor styles with functional impact and mindfulness facets were observed.ConclusionsSome humor styles may imply a better disposition in patients to learn and implement the concepts and resources that the intervention offered.