SYSTEMATIC REVIEW   Free access

European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2019 October;55(5):646-57

DOI: 10.23736/S1973-9087.19.05291-2

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Effectiveness of movement and body awareness therapies in patients with fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cristina BRAVO ¹, Liv H. SKJAERVEN ², Luisa GUITARD SEIN-ECHALUCE ¹, Daniel CATALAN-MATAMOROS ^{3, 4} ✉

¹ Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain; ² Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway; ³ Health Sciences Research Group CTS 451, University of Almeria, Almeria, Spain; ⁴ Health Communication Research Unit, University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

INTRODUCTION: Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that is associated with widespread pain and is recognized as one of the major common causes of disability. The standard clinical guidance for fibromyalgia includes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. In the latter, different interventions are implemented such as aerobic exercises, flexibility exercises, strength training, stretching and body awareness (BA) therapies. The aims of this review were to provide a summary of movement and BA therapies in patients with fibromyalgia and to compare the different therapies in relation to outcomes.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The search strategy was undertaken using the following databases from inception to October 2018: PubMed, Cinahl, PEDro, PsychoInfo and The Cochrane Library. Articles were eligible if they were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing movement and BA therapies with another intervention.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Two authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality; 418 studies were found, twenty-two of which met the inclusion criteria. Pain symptom was improved with movement and BA therapies such as, affective self-awareness, t’ai chi, yoga, belly dance, strengthening program and Resseguier method. Forest plot analysis in short term confirms positive trend in favor of BA; however, a great heterogeneity was found between trials.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review and meta-analysis shows positive results in favor of movement and BA therapies as adjunct treatment to usual care in patients who suffer from fibromyalgia. Further work in identifying the mechanism of action by which BA therapies benefit outcomes should be undertaken.

KEY WORDS: Fibromyalgia; Exercise; Awareness; Pain; Physical therapy modalities