Efficacy of Stretching Exercises on Fibromyalgia Impact and Quality of Life in Patients under Medical Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial, 2021

There is no specific treatment for fibromyalgia. Previous studies suggest that exercise is helpful in controlling the symptoms and psychosocial aspects of the disease. Stretching exercises are emphasized less than aerobic and resistance exercises in these patients. The main reason for re-examining this issue in current study was the contradictory feedback of patients with fibromyalgia to stretching exercises which was observed during recent years in clinical treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of stretching exercise on the quality of life of patients and the impact of fibromyalgia.

This study was a per-protocol randomized clinical trial. Forty-nine patients with fibromyalgia diagnosed based on 2010 diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia who were referred to our sports medicine clinic by a rheumatologist and then a psychiatrist were studied. They were randomly divided into two groups. Twenty-five patients in the intervention group did stretching exercise and received medication while 24 patients in the control group received standard medication for five weeks. SF-36 questionnaire was used to evaluate the quality of life and Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) was used to assess the disease state at the beginning of the study and also at weeks 5 and 9.

There are contradictory results about the effect of stretching exercises on fibromyalgia patients. The current study showed no significant differences between the two groups in the mean scores for physical health (P= 0.4), mental health (P= 0.88), and fibromyalgia impact (P= 0.36).

Isolated stretching exercises are not effective in improving fibromyalgia. Further studies are suggested to investigate the effect of more specific stretching exercises on fibromyalgia.