Effects of aerobic exercise on pain perception, affect, and level of disability in individuals with fibromyalgia. Phys Ther

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of aerobic walking on the pain, disability, and psychological symptoms of individ-uals with fibromyalgia. Subjects. Nineteen subjects withJibromyalgia (2 men, 17 women), aged 30 to 69 years @=49.35, SD = 11.83), participated Metbods. Ten Fibromyalgia is a nonarticular rheu- musculotendinous j~nct ions. ~ Symp- toms by activity, weather, and stress.' matic disease of unknown origin toms include generalized fatigue; This disorder is most common in diagnosed by the presence of wide- chronic headache; sleep disturbances; women between 20 and 50 years of spread pain accompanied by tender- patient-reported joint swelling without age, with an estimated incidence of 3 ness at 11 or more of the 18 specific objective findings of swelling; irritable to 6 million.3-5 tender point sites. ' These tender bowel; neuropsychiatric symptoms; points a.re primarily localized to the numbness; and modulation of symp- Standard medical and physical therapy interventions have been relatively ineffective in the treatment of thi