Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare functionality and strength among women with fibromyalgia (FM), women without FM, and older women. Subjects. Twenty-nine women with FM (age [X±SD]=46±7 years), 12 age- and weight-matched women without FM (age=44±8 years), and 38 older women who were healthy (age=71±7 years) participated. Methods. The Continuous Scale–Physical Functional Performance Test (CS-PFP) was used to assess functionality. Isokinetic leg strength was measured at 60°/s, and handgrip strength was measured using a handgrip dynamometer. Results. The women without FM had significantly higher functionality scores compared with women with FM and older women. There were no differences in functionality between women with FM and older women. Strength measures for the leg were higher in women without FM compared with women with FM and older women, and both women with and without FM had higher grip strengths compared with older women. Discussion and Conclusion. This study demonstrated that women with FM and older women who are healthy have similar lower-body strength and functionality, potentially enhancing the risk for premature age-associated disability.

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A Comparison of Physical Functional Performance and Strength in Women With Fibromyalgia, Age- and Weight-Matched Controls, and Older Women Who Are Healthy

Aim

The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical fitness parameters (maximal aerobic capacity, muscle strength and flexibility), daily physical activity, resting metabolic rate (RMR), pulmonary function tests (PFTs), body composition, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) changes as well as the associations among these parameters in patients with fibromyalgia and to compare them with healthy controls.



Methods

Thirty-nine women with fibromyalgia and 40 controls were included in this study. Physical measurements, HRQoL questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) score were applied to all participants.



Results

Maximal aerobic capacity, trunk flexibility, daily step numbers, total energy expenditure, RMR and PFT values were not significantly different between the patients and the controls. Fibromyalgia patients had higher daily moderate activity times, active energy expenditure values, and BDI and BAI scores, while their lower handgrip strength and back-leg strength values and Short-form health survey (SF)-36 scores were comparable to controls. Handgrip strength and back-leg strength values showed moderately positive correlations with SF-36 scores (total, physical health, mental health) and moderately negative correlations with BDI and BAI scores in patients with fibromyalgia.



Conclusion

Our results suggested that muscle strength, HRQoL, depression and anxiety symptomatology were impaired in fibromyalgia patients compared to healthy controls. Low muscle strength is related to reduced HRQoL and increased depression and anxiety symptomatology in patients with fibromyalgia. Also we suggest that performing daily exercises, including aerobic and strength training, as part of one's lifestyle may have beneficial effects in fibromyalgia patients.

Evaluation of health-related physical fitness parameters and association analysis with depression, anxiety, and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia.

Objective

To test the hypothesis that fibromyalgia (FM) patients with reduced lower extremity strength are more symptomatic and tender than FM patients with normal muscle strength.



Methods

A total of 840 FM patients and 122 healthy subjects were evaluated between 1998 and 2005. All of the patients completed version 1 of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and were assessed for tender points and knee muscle strength. All subjects underwent bilateral isokinetic knee muscle strength testing in flexion and extension. Normative knee muscle strength values were calculated from the healthy subjects, and the FM cohort was divided in 2 groups: 1) patients with normal muscle strength and 2) patients with low muscle strength (2 SDs below normal). The clinical characteristics of these 2 groups were compared.



Results

Significantly reduced knee muscle strength was found in 52% of the patients. There were no clinically significant differences between patients with low versus normal muscle strength. There were no clinically significant correlations between total FIQ score, tender point count, and muscle strength. Only 4.6% of the FIQ scores and 5.1% of the tender point counts were explained by muscle strength.



Conclusion

Significantly reduced knee muscle strength was found in more than half of the patients. Patients with subnormal muscle strength were not more symptomatic or tender than patients with normal muscle strength. There were no clinically significant correlations between FIQ, tender point count, and muscle strength; therefore, reduced knee muscle strength appears to be a common objective abnormality in FM that is independent of measurements of disease activity. The implication of this finding in regard to the clinical assessment of FM needs further study.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/art.24512

Relationships between the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire, tender point count, and muscle strength in female patients with fibromyalgia: a cohort study.

https://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(10)00773-2/pdf

Handgrip Strength Test as a Complementary Tool in the Assessment of Fibromyalgia Severity in Women

BACKGROUND: Chest wall mobility is often measured in clinical practice, but the correlations between chest wall mobility and respiratory muscle strength and lung volumes are unknown. We investigate the associations between chest wall mobility, axillary and thoracic cirtometry values, respiratory muscle strength (maximum inspiratory pressure and maximum expiratory pressure), and lung volumes (expiratory reserve volume, FEV 1, inspiratory capacity, FEV1/FVC), and the determinants of chest mobility in healthy subjects. METHODS: In 64 healthy subjects we measured inspiratory capacity, FVC, FEV 1, expiratory reserve volume, maximum inspiratory pressure, and maximum expiratory pressure, and chest wall mobility via axillary and thoracic cirtometry. We used linear regression to evaluate the influence of the measured variables on chest wall mobility. RESULTS: The subjects’ meanSD values were: age 243 years, axillary cirtometry 6.32.0 cm, thoracic cirtometry 7.5 2.3 cm; maximum inspiratory pressure 90.4 10.6% of predicted, maximum expiratory pressure 92.8 13.5% of predicted, inspiratory capacity 99.7 8.6% of predicted, FVC 101.9 10.6% of predicted, FEV 1 98.2 10.3% of predicted, expiratory reserve volume 90.9 19.9% of predicted. There were significant correlations between axillary cirtometry and FVC (r 0.32), FEV 1 (r 0.30), maximum inspiratory pressure (r 0.48), maximum expiratory pressure (r 0.25), and inspiratory capacity (r 0.24), and between thoracic cirtometry and FVC (r 0.50), FEV 1 (r 0.48), maximum inspiratory pressure (r 0.46), maximum expiratory pressure (r 0.37), inspiratory capacity (r 0.39), and expiratory reserve volume (r 0.47). In multiple regression analysis the variable that best explained the axillary cirtometry variation was maximum inspiratory pressure (R 2 0.23), and for thoracic cirtometry it was FVC and maximum inspiratory pressure (R 2 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Chest mobility in healthy subjects is

http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/respcare/58/12/2107.full.pdf

Chest wall mobility is related to respiratory muscle strength and lung volumes in healthy subjects

Objective: It has been reported that patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) have lower maximal respiratory pressures than healthy subjects, indicating reduced pulmonary muscle strength. It has also been reported that patients with FMS have reduced grip strength. In this study, we aimed to examine the possible relationship between handgrip strength as a determinant of peripheral muscle strength and pulmonary muscle strength in patients with FMS by comparing them with healthy controls. Methods: Forty-one consecutive women with FMS (diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria) were compared with 40 age- and body mass index-matched healthy female controls. Pulmonary function tests were assessed by spirometry. Maximal pulmonary pressures were evaluated using an oral pressure meter. A dyspnea score was obtained. Pain was scored according to visual analogue scale and chest pain was classified (0-9) in fibromyalgia patients. Chest expansion was also measured in the two groups. Tender points were also evaluated in FMS patients. Grip strength (Jamar handheld dynamometer) was also measured in the two groups. Results: The difference in pulmonary function tests was not statistically significant between groups. Maximal respiratory pressures (maximum inspiratory pressure and maximum expiratory pressure) and endurance (maximum ventilatory volume) were significantly lower in patients with FMS than in controls. There was also a statistically significant difference between groups regarding grip strength. There was also significant correlation between maximal inspiratory pressure and maximal expiratory pressure values and handgrip strength in patients with FMS. Conclusion: These data indicate that handgrip strength may be a determinant of pulmonary muscle strength in fibromyalgia patients.

Canan Erdoǧan

Papers

Handgrip strength, pulmonary function tests, and pulmonary muscle strength in fibromyalgia syndrome: is there any relationship?