Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of falls in fibromyalgia (FM) patients compared to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and normal controls. METHODS: We studied 60 FM, 60 RA patients and 60 controls for fall frequency in one week, one month, six months and one year. Patients were submitted to body mass index determination and balance evaluation through the Berg scale. Data on disease impact and depression were collected in FM patients through the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Beck Questionnaire. RESULTS: FM patients had a higher frequency of falls than RA patients and control individuals in one month (p<0.0001), in six months (p<0.0001) and in one year (p<0.0001). No relationship was found between falls and body mass index, pain or depression scores. Falls in 12 months were associated with higher FIQ values. CONCLUSION: FM patients fall more often than RA patients and control individuals. Level of Evidence II, Investigation of the effect of a patient characteristic on the disease outcome.
Highlights
Fractures caused by falls are one of the factors that prevent people with chronic illnesses to live independently
By studying the number of falls in the three samples, we find displayed in Table 2 and Figure 1 the data, which show a greater number of falls in FM patients than in controls and in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients
Studying the Berg values in the three groups (RA, FM and control) we found that the FM group 2/60 had values between 21-40 and 58/60 had values between 41-56; in patients with RA 1/60 had values between 21-40 and 58/60 between 41-56 and all of the control group (60/60) were in the group between 41-56 (p = 0.36)
Summary
Sandra Adolph Meireles[1], Daniel Casagrande Antero[2], Marciane Maria Kulczycki[1], Thelma Larocca Skare[2]
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