Association between chronic widespread pain and physical activity behaviour in people with fibromyalgia
type: CreativeWork
description: BackgroundFibromyalgia is a prevalent chronic widespread pain condition, affecting 1 in 20 adults in the UK, predominantly women and associated with a significant psychosocial burden. Despite much interest in structured exercise for pain management, resulting in evidence-based guidelines recommending structured exercise as the first line of management for fibromyalgia, adherence to structured exercise remains a huge challenge in this population as factors contributing to exercise intolerance are not adequately explored. The overall aim of this PhD thesis was to explore the impact of biopsychosocial factors on pain and physical activity behaviour in people with fibromyalgia.MethodThree studies were conducted as part of this PhD. Study-1 examined the literature on the association between non-structured physical activity and pain intensity through a systematic review. Study-2 was a cross-sectional survey to examine the associations between physical activity, physical function and pain, and Study-3 consisted of qualitative interviews. A convergent mixed-method approach was taken to interpret the findings from the quantitative and qualitative studies to gain an in-depth understanding of contextual factors impacting pain and physical activity behaviour in people with fibromyalgia.FindingsThe systematic review revealed that the relationship between pain and physical activity is split. Half of the studies reported a statistically significant association between pain and physical activity categories, and the other half reported no statistically significant associations between physical activity categories and pain. The survey data demonstrated a weak association between pain and physical activity and found that depression, anxiety, and fatigue played critical roles in affecting the relationship between pain and physical activity in this population. The qualitative study findings suggested that people with fibromyalgia did not have appropriate guidance on tailored physical ac…
abstract: BackgroundFibromyalgia is a prevalent chronic widespread pain condition, affecting 1 in 20 adults in the UK, predominantly women and associated with a significant psychosocial burden. Despite much interest in structured exercise for pain management, resulting in evidence-based guidelines recommending structured exercise as the first line of management for fibromyalgia, adherence to structured exercise remains a huge challenge in this population as factors contributing to exercise intolerance are not adequately explored. The overall aim of this PhD thesis was to explore the impact of biopsychosocial factors on pain and physical activity behaviour in people with fibromyalgia.MethodThree studies were conducted as part of this PhD. Study-1 examined the literature on the association between non-structured physical activity and pain intensity through a systematic review. Study-2 was a cross-sectional survey to examine the associations between physical activity, physical function and pain, and Study-3 consisted of qualitative interviews. A convergent mixed-method approach was taken to interpret the findings from the quantitative and qualitative studies to gain an in-depth understanding of contextual factors impacting pain and physical activity behaviour in people with fibromyalgia.FindingsThe systematic review revealed that the relationship between pain and physical activity is split. Half of the studies reported a statistically significant association between pain and physical activity categories, and the other half reported no statistically significant associations between physical activity categories and pain. The survey data demonstrated a weak association between pain and physical activity and found that depression, anxiety, and fatigue played critical roles in affecting the relationship between pain and physical activity in this population. The qualitative study findings suggested that people with fibromyalgia did not have appropriate guidance on tailored physical ac…
author: Mayana, KI
language: en
date published: 2021
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:26:06Z
provider: U. of Salford
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: U. of Salford