Fibromyalgia pain and physical function : the influence of resilience.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with increased risk of disability in older adults living with fibromyalgia (FM) along with factors that protect or enhance physical function and promote health in the presence of FM. The study addressed the following specific aims: 1. Explore levels and correlates of pain, self-reported physical function and resilience in community-dwelling older adults living with FM. Descriptive aims had no hypothesis. 2. Examine theorized demographic and health-related predictors of self-reported physical function in community dwelling older adults living with FM. It was hypothesized that age, education, income, tangible social support, comorbidity, depressive symptoms, BMI, and physical activity predicted self-reported physical function. 3. Examine resilience as a moderator of the relationship between pain and selfreported physical function in community-dwelling older adults living with FM. It was hypothesized that high levels of resilience moderated (weakened) the relationship between pain level and physical function when controlling for significant predictors of self-reported physical function. Methods: A descriptive correlational, cross-sectional design was used to explore and analyze relationships between demographic variables (age, education, income, tangible social support) and health-related measures (comorbidity, depressive symptoms, BMI, physical activity, FM impact, pain, resilience, and self-reported physical function) in a