Resistance Exercise Improves Fatigue in Fibromyalgia Patients

Progressive resistance exercise may improve fatigue in women with fibromyalgia, according to new research.

In a substudy of a multicenter trial, the researchers included 130 women aged 22 to 64 years who were diagnosed with fibromyalgia and were living in Gothenburg, Stockholm, or Linköping, Sweden.
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Participants were randomized to either an intervention group, which performed progressive resistance exercises twice per week for 15 weeks, or an active control group, which received relaxation therapy. The women also completed several health questionnaires throughout the study.

The researchers measured fatigue using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20).

After the study period, women in the intervention group saw a higher improvement in general, physical, and mental fatigue than those in the active control group.

Women who got better sleep and worked fewer hours also saw improvement in physical fatigue after 15 weeks.

“Person-centered progressive resistance exercise improved physical fatigue in women with [fibromyalgia] when compared to an active control group,” the researchers concluded.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:
Ericsson A, Palstam A, Larsson A, et al. Resistance exercise improves physical fatigue in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial [published online July 30 2016]. Arthritis Res Ther. doi:10.1186/s13075-016-1073-3.