Impact of adding a cognitive task while performing physical fitness tests in women with fibromyalgia

Abstract

Fibromyalgia symptoms cause a significant reduction in the ability to perform daily life activities. These activities often require the ability to perform more than 1 task at the same time.The aim was to investigate how the addition of a cognitive task modifies the performance in physical fitness tests in fibromyalgia and healthy controls.A total of 61 women participated in this study, 31 of them diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist. They performed 3 physical fitness tests (arm curl, handgrip, and 10-steps stair tests) in 2 conditions:a) regular (single task [ST]) andb) while thinking in 3 words that were given before each test and had to be recalled and verbalized after the execution of each test (dual task).The dual task cost was calculated as the difference between the performances in the regular and dual-task (DT) conditions.Healthy controls obtained significantly better results than fibromyalgia in both, dual and single-task conditions. Women with fibromyalgia significantly decreased the performance in the 10-steps stair test when a cognitive task was added. Between-group differences in the dual-task costs (DTC) were not found.Women with fibromyalgia showed lower physical performance than healthy controls in both, single and dual task conditions. In addition, differences between single and dual task conditions were observed in the 10-steps stair test in women with fibromyalgia. This could be related with a reduction in the ability to perform daily life activities. However, results regarding DTC indicate that both groups may be similarly influenced by the addition of a secondary cognitive. Thus, further research with different difficulty levels of DT conditions is needed in fibromyalgia.

Effects of 24‐week exergame intervention on physical function under single‐ and dual‐task conditions in fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial

“…39 Fibromyalgia symptoms often cause a reduction in the ability to perform daily life activities 3 diminishing the health-related quality of life of fibromyalgia patients. 40 In this regard, the ability to perform two or more tasks simultaneously is reduced in fibromyalgia patients compared with healthy controls, 17 which indeed have a huge impact in the efficacy performing daily activities and could even increase the risk of falling while executing motor tasks. 41 Therefore, the enhancement of this ability must be of interest for researchers and clinicians since it could be a measure closer to real life than single-task-based tests.…”

“…Flexibility has a great impact on the health‐related quality of life, and randomized controlled trials tend to under‐evaluate it . Therefore, given that most activities of daily living imply dual‐task conditions, the evaluation under this paradigm is of interest for researchers and clinicians …”

“…16 Therefore, given that most activities of daily living imply dual-task conditions, the evaluation under this paradigm is of interest for researchers and clinicians. 17 Recent studies have reported the effects of rehabilitation programs based on virtual reality (VR). 18 Thus, the use of exergames, which combines physical therapy with VR, 19 achieves additional benefits such as distraction from pain or enjoyment.…”

Reliability of 30-s Chair Stand Test with and without Cognitive Task in People with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…All this leads to the dual-task (DT) paradigm defined as performing several activities simultaneously [24]. DT can be motor-cognitive, cognitive-cognitive or motor-motor [25]. In their daily lives, people usually divide their attention between performing motor tasks and cognitive activity at the same time [26][27][28], so it is necessary to determine the psychometric properties of the tests, including the reliability.…”

Strength Assessment Under Dual Task Conditions in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Test–Retest Reliability Study

“…The different task combinations are motor-motor, cognitive-cognitive, and motor-cognitive. Previous studies have analyzed the influence of adding a cognitive task when performing physical fitness tests in women with FM [27][28][29], but none of them have reported test-retest reliability. A test is considered reliable when, on two or more occasions under the same conditions, a subject obtains similar results [30].…”