Obese women experience more severe fibromyalgia symptoms
Previous studies have shown that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is high in FMS patients, ranging from 62% to 73%. Although increased body mass index (BMI) has been associated with multiple pain measures, symptom severity, disease activity, fatigue, anxiety, or quality of life in FMS patients, the results although are still controversial.
María Correa-Rodríguez, University of Granada (UGR), Granada, Spain, and colleagues examined the relationships among BMI and body composition parameters, including fat mass, fat mass percentage, and visceral fat, as well as FMS features, such as tender point count (TPC), pain, disease activity, fatigue, sleep quality, and anxiety, in FMS women patients and healthy controls.
This crossectional study included 73 women with FMS and 73 healthy controls matched on weight. A body composition analyzer was used to measure visceral fat, fat mass percentage and fat mass. Tender point count (TPC) was measured by algometry pressure. The disease severity was measured with the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ-R) and self-reported global pain was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS). Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI) was used to measure the quality of sleep, fatigue and anxiety. Of the women in this study, 38.4% and 31.5% were overweight and obese, respectively.
