Fibromyalgia Essay

Introduction:

Fibromyalgia is an extremely disabling condition associated with chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain and reduced pain thresholds (Wolfe et al., 2010)(Kelley et al., 2011). Observational studies have shown that over a 12 month period 25% of men and women surveyed over the age of 65 will consult a primary care physician for musculoskeletal pain (Jordan et al., 2010). Overall, between 46% and 80% of people over the age of 65 report experiencing pain on a daily basis and 15% of women and 10% of men over 50 report widespread musculoskeletal pain (Soldato et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2004). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in xxxx that fibromyalgia patients generated $6000 per patient per year in healthcare costs where as another recent study of administrative claims found that fibromyalgia healthcare costs may exceed $18,000 per patient annually (Wolfe et al., 1997). In a population study of ten chronic diseases, fibromyalgia was highest ranked for healthcare not received in the previous year and in long-term disability, pain, and poor self-rated health by survey participants (Kasman and Badley, 2004).

Fibromyalgia is one of the most expensive chronic diseases in terms of healthcare utilization costs in part due to the severity of the functional limitations experienced by fibromyalgia patients. The clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia are complex and are accompanied by sleep disturbances, mood disorders, chronic fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance and pain exacerbations which severely limit a patient’s activities of daily living (Friedberg et al., 2012). As a result, fibromyalgia patients often adopt sedentary behaviors that reinforce preexisting physical disabilities and ultimately lead...

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...0 minutes, 5-7 days a week. Such small, gradual increases in exercise are unlikely to exacerbate baseline symptoms (Friedberg et al., 2012). Group activities with supervision may be preferable to home-based, solitary activities since it offers a social support mechanism and provides encouragement to continue the exercise regimen (Rooks, 2007). A review of exercise treatment programs in fibromyalgia patients concluded that the lowest attrition rates occurred in lower rather than higher intensity exercise programs (Hauser et al., 2010). A study by Hauser et al reported that aerobic exercise of slight to moderate intensity two to three times a week was more effective than regimens of other intensity or frequency (Hauser et al., 2010). Improvements in mood, quality of life, and physical fitness were maintained at follow-up intervals between 3 and 17 months.