Mat Pilates is as effective as aquatic aerobic exercise in treating women with fibromyalgia: a clinical, randomized and blind trial

Abstract

Background: The mat Pilates method is the therapeutic modalities which can be used in fibromyalgia treatment. Although there are no well-designed studies that prove the effectiveness of the mat Pilates method in this population. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the mat Pilates method for improving symptoms in women with fibromyalgia. Methods: A single blind randomized controlled trial in which 42 women with fibromyalgia were randomized into two groups: mat Pilates and aquatic aerobic exercise. The exercises were performed twice a week for 12 weeks. Two evaluations were performed: one at baseline (T0), and another at 12 weeks after randomization (T12). The primary outcome was pain measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes were function (Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire), sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), quality of life (Short Form 36 [SF-36]), fear avoidance (Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire [FABQ-BR]) and pain catastrophizing (Pain-Related Catastrophizing Thoughts Scale [PRCTS]). Results: There was improvement in both groups in relation to pain and function (p < 0.05). The aspects related to quality of life and the FABQ questionnaire only showed improvement in the mat Pilates group (p < 0.05). There was improvement in the PSQI and PRCTS variables only in the aquatic aerobic exercise group (p < 0.05), but no differences were observed between the groups for any of the evaluated variables. Conclusion: Significant improvements were observed in the two groups in relation to the disease symptoms, and no differences were observed between mat Pilates and aquatic aerobic exercise in any of the measured variables. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT03149198), May 11, 2017. Approved by the Ethics Committee of FACISA/UFRN (Number: 2.116.314).

One year in review 2021: fibromyalgia

“…For the AAE, there were improvements in PSQI total (p=0.02) and in Pain-Related Catastrophising Thoughts Scale (PRCTS) (p=0.01) (66). The Pilates method is a recommended form of exercise for healthy individuals, but it can also lead to a better quality of life and pain reduction in FM patients, similarly to aerobic exercise.…”

The use of Pilates for pain control in patients with fibromyalgia

“…Altan et al 12 Komatsu et al 16 Medeiros et al 19 Caglayan et al 20 1. Eligibility criteria were specified.…”

Efeitos do exercício resistido e do exercício aeróbico em pessoas com síndrome de fibromialgia: uma revisão sistemática de ensaios clínicos randomizados

“…Table 1 shows the score obtained by the selected studies in the critical review form of Law et al 7 . This instrument aims to classify the quality of the studies [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] , originally having 15 questions. However, item 4 does not score, because it is only to distinguish the type of study.…”