Reliability and Feasibility of Physical Fitness Tests in Female Fibromyalgia Patients

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the reliability and feasibility of physical fitness tests in female fibromyalgia patients. 100 female fibromyalgia patients (aged 50.6±8.6 years) performed the following tests twice (7 days interval test-retest): chair sit and reach, back scratch, handgrip strength, arm curl, chair stand, 8 feet up and go, and 6-min walk. Significant differences between test and retest were found in the arm curl (mean difference: 1.25±2.16 repetitions, Cohen d=0.251), chair stand (0.99±1.7 repetitions, Cohen d=0.254) and 8 feet up and go (-0.38±1.09 s, Cohen d=0.111) tests. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) range from 0.92 in the arm curl test to 0.96 in the back scratch test. The feasibility of the tests (patients able to complete the test) ranged from 89% in the arm curl test to 100% in the handgrip strength test. Therefore, the reliability and feasibility of the physical fitness tests examined is acceptable for female fibromyalgia patients.

Impact of Fibromyalgia in the Sit‐to‐Stand‐to‐Sit Performance Compared With Healthy Controls

“…There was no statistically significant difference between the number of repetitions performed by the 2 groups ( P = .09). The mean number of repetitions was similar to that reported for the percentile 75th for functional capacity in women with FM [32]. According to Aparicio et al [14], the 30‐second chair‐stand test can discriminate between those with/without FM.…”

Association of Physical Fitness With Pain in Women With Fibromyalgia: The al‐Ándalus Project

“…Additionally, only women were included in the study because FM predominantly affects women. By contrast, the relatively large sample size, the feasibility and reliability of the fitness tests used (20), the large number of pain indicators, and the consistency of the findings are strengths of this study.…”

“…These performance-based functional fitness tests have been previously used in women with FM (5) and have been shown to be feasible and reliable in this population (20). We additionally included the handgrip strength test.…”

Physical fitness reference standards in fibromyalgia: The al‐Ándalus project

“…The Senior Fitness Test battery (Rikli & Jones, ,b) is a set of field‐based tests widely used in patients with fibromyalgia (Carbonell‐Baeza et al., ; Cherry et al., ; Aparicio et al., ; Jones et al., ), that is feasible and reliable to assess physical fitness in this population (Carbonell‐Baeza et al., ). The al‐Ándalus cross‐sectional study provides the opportunity to establish age‐specific reference values of different components of physical fitness in a large and geographically representative sample of people with fibromyalgia from the south of Spain.…”