THE EFFECT OF WEIGHT LOSS AND STRUCTURED EXERCISE ON PAIN IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA: A FEASIBILITY STUDY

Of the 3.94 million Americans diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM), as many as 70% are considered overweight or obese leading to an increased severity of FM and its associated symptoms. The Fibromyalgia and Lifestyle Interventions - Pilot (FLI-P) assessed the feasibility of an exercise and dietary weight loss program for patients with FM. Feasibility was conceptualized by recruitment, patient tolerance, and limited efficacy testing. FM patients were recruited using the electronic medical records of Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. 10 females participated in a 24-week intervention involving three supervised group-based exercise sessions per week one behavioral weight loss session per week. Additionally, participants were asked to consume two meal replacements per day and record food intake using MyFitnessPal. To assess pain outcomes, the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and the Brief Pain Inventory were used, and the DEXA was used to measure changes in body mass. Feasibility was analyzed by examining recruitment rates, session attendance, change in exercise minutes, and the occurrence of adverse events. Additionally, participants completed a self-report questionnaire to determine their satisfaction with the FLI-P program. We also examined mean changes and variability in FIQR and BPI scores, and changes in body mass. Overall, recruiting the target sample presented many challenges, yet attendance to the exercise and weight loss sessions was similar to other studies utilizing clinical populations. The intervention appeared to be tolerated well by participants as seen by their increase in aerobic exercise minutes and minimal occurrence of adverse events. Furthermore, although there were no significant changes in pain outcomes, the participants did achieve moderate amounts of weight loss.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Felkel, Cheyenne

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/90718

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/90718