Experience of physical activity in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain

Purpose. Patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic widespread pain (CWP) find physical activity troublesome. The purpose was to develop a questionnaire to investigate the experience of physical activity in FM and CWP populations.

Method. A questionnaire was developed from a qualitative study. After that, a total of 204 patients with FM or CWP completed the questionnaire. A factor analysis was conducted and the internal consistency was investigated. The relationship between the factors and pain, health status (the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, FIQ), distress (the Hospital Anxiety and Distress scale, HAD) and leisure time physical activity (the Leisure Time Physical Activity Instrument, LTPAI) was investigated.

Results. Five factors were identified: Physical Relaxation (PR), Well-being (WB), Activity Beliefs (AB), Activity-related Symptoms (AS) and Activity Habits (AH). Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.57 to 0.86. The PR showed a correlation (rho 0.28, p < 0.01) with the FIQ Pain. The AS showed a correlation (rho 0.25, p < 0.01) with the FIQ total score, while the AH showed a correlation with the HAD Depression (0.26, p < 0.01) and with strenuous physical activity (LTPAI) (?0.32, p < 0.01).

Conclusion. A new instrument was developed to study the experience of physical activity in persons with long-lasting pain. Five factors were identified using factor analysis, and three of them showed fair associations with FM symptoms, distress or physical activity.