Background/Purpose: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome characterized mainly by chronic generalized pain that affects the physical fitness and functional capacity of patients. There is increasing evidence of the benefits of physical exercise in improving FM symptoms, making these interventions part of therapeutic arsenal.

Methods: It is a controlled and randomized study, with blind evaluator. A total of 82 female patients with FM were included, with age between 18 and 65 years, randomized into two groups, intervention and control. The intervention group (FEG) performed functional exercise training for 45 minutes twice a week for 14 weeks. The control group (SEG) performed stretching exercises with the same duration and frequency. Evaluation instruments were: VAS – Visual Analogue Scale for pain assessment; FIQ- Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, for assessing health-related quality of life; Time-up and go test for functional performance evaluation; 1RM, for evaluation of muscle strength; Bank of Welss, for the assessment of flexibility; Berg Balance Scale, to evaluate balance; and SF-36 to evaluate general quality of life. Also, the amount of analgesics used during the intervention period was assessed.

Results: 41 patients were randomized to the FEG and 41 patients to the SEG. After intervention, the FEG presented a reduction in pain and an improvement in the quality of life related to the disease, which was statistically significant compared to SEG. Regarding general quality of life, functional capacity, muscle strength, flexibility and balance, there was no difference between the groups.

Conclusion: Functional exercise training proved to be effective in reducing pain and improving the health-related quality of life of patients with FM when compared to stretching exercises.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/a-functional-exercise-program-improves-pain-and-health-related-quality-of-life-in-patients-with-fibromyalgia-a-randomized-controllel-trial/