Behavior Change and Health News
Active Living Every Day Serves as the Basis for Physical Activity Intervention in People With Fibromyalgia
As part of a study of women with fibromyalgia, Active Living Every Day strategies of goal setting, relapse prevention, social support, positive planning, and sustaining change aided participants in accumulating more physical activity throughout their day and resulted in reports of less pain at the end of the study period.
Kevin R. Fontaine, PhD, associate professor of medicine in the department of health, behavior, and society at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, discovered the Active Living Every Day program through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s physical activity recommendations. He first conducted a pilot study in 2005 using Active Living Every Day in combination with other protocols specific to working with people with fibromyalgia. He’s been using the model ever since, and he intends to apply for additional National Institutes of Health funding in order to expand the scope of the program.
"People with fibromyalgia are very sedentary because its major symptoms—pain and fatigue—make it difficult to become or stay physically active," states Fontaine. This research shows that “even if they cannot engage in traditional exercise, they can derive some benefits from simply incorporating short bouts of physical activity into their daily lives."
The study followed 84 mostly female middle-aged adults who had had fibromyalgia for an average of over seven years. A little more than half the subjects were assigned to a lifestyle physical activity group that aimed to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on at least 5 days of the week. They increased their average number of steps per day, as recorded by pedometers, from 3788 to 5837 over the course of the study. Compared to the group who received education and support only, the lifestyle physical activity group significantly improved their perceived physical functioning and reduced their pain.
Fontaine explained that people with fibromyalgia have unique issues with pain and fatigue. They can also be hypersensitive to physical activity because it has the potential to cause a flare-up in their illness. As part of the program he created, he seeks to modify their expectations according to their condition. The Active Living Every Day approach of moderation and gradual increases in amounts of physical activity works well with this population.
To learn more about research showing the effectiveness of Active Living Every Day with various populations, please visit our Web site at www.ActiveLiving.info.
Sources
Brooks, Megan. Fibromyalgia Symptoms Eased by "Lifestyle Physical Activity." Medscape Medical News. April 1, 2010. www.medscape.com
Fontaine, Kevin R., Lora Conn, and Daniel J. Clauw. Effects of lifestyle physical activity on perceived symptoms and physical function in adults with fibromyalgia: Results of a randomized trial. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2010, 12:R55. arthritisresearch.com
Phone interview with Kevin R. Fontaine. April 8, 2010.
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