FRI0704-HPR THE EFFECTS OF CLINICAL PILATES TRAINING IN PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Background Fibromiyalgia (FM) is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, sleep disorders, fatigue and reduced quality of life. Exercise is commonly recommended in the approach of people with FM. Researches support some forms of exercises reduce fibromyalgia symptoms and improve quality of life. Pilates recently has become popular form of exercise which focused core strenghening, posture and coordination of breathing with movement. Studies showed that clinical pilates can be used to provide improvements in patients with FM. However there is no study which compared clinical pilates-based supervised exercises and group exercises on FM patients in literature. Objectives The first aim of the study was to investigate the effects of clinical pilates training, secondly to compare the effects of supervised exercises and group exercises training on disease activity, functional status, anxiety, quality of life and biopsychosocial status in individuals with FM. Methods 42 voluntary women diagnosed with FM according to 2010 American College of Rheumatology Criteria in the age range of 35-65, who applied to Pamukkale University Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Rheumatology were included in the study. Individuals were randomly divided into two groups, as there would be supervised exercises (Group I, n=16, mean age 55,93±8,03) and group exercises (Group II, n=26, mean age 47,80±5,87). All participants attended 60-min exercises sessions (10-min warm up, 40-min clinical pilates exercises, 10-min cool down) per day, 2 times a week, for 6 weeks. The training was applied by same physiotherapist who received clinical pilates certificate by an experienced Pilates instructor and physiotherapist. After the demographic characteristics and disease related data of the individuals were recorded; disease activity were assessed with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), functional status with Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), anxiety with Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), quality of life with Short Form 36 (SF-36) scale and biopsychosocial status with the Cognitive Exercise Therapy Approach Scale (BETY). All outcomes were assessed just before and 6 weeks after training. The data were statistically evaluated by the Wilcoxon test and Mann-Whitney Test. Results There were no significant differences in baseline demographics between the Group I and Group II (p>0.05). After 6 weeks, showed for both groups a statistically significant improvement in FIQ,SF-36 (physical and mental component) and BETY also Group II showed a statistically significant improvement in HAQ and BAI (p 0.05) Conclusion This study showed that clinical pilates training which were applied 6 weeks, resulted in improvement on disease activity, functional status, anxiety, quality of life and biopsychosocial status in individuals with FM. Besides group exercises training provides social interaction so we suggest clinical pilates as an effective and safe method for people with FM.