Resistance Exercise like weight lifting, Lifts Fatigue in Fibromyalgia Female patients benefit from being involved in treatment planning

Recruited through newspaper ads, the 130 patients were randomized to a resistance training group or an active control group receiving relaxation therapy. Those in the intervention arm worked out twice a week for 15 weeks in physiotherapy clinics, doing 50 minutes of resistance exercise targeting large muscle groups in the trunk and all four extremities. Initiated at 40% of one repetition maximum, training progressed to as much as 80% of one repetition maximum over 15 weeks. In other findings, the resistance exercise group improved in the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire for fatigue from baseline to post-treatment assessment, with a mean difference of –8.6 (P=0.002). The resistance exercise group also improved in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) subscale for sleep quality, with a mean difference of –0.2 (P=0.047). Active controls, however, showed PSQI subscale improvement in sleep medication needs, with a mean difference of 0.3 (P=0.036). Sleep efficiency was the strongest predictor of change in the MFI-20 subscale for general fatigue (beta = -0.54, P=0.031, R2=0.05). Poorer sleep efficiency at baseline predicted improvement in general fatigue. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Fibromyalgia/59577?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-08-09&eun=g721819d0r&pos=0