Obesity and sleepiness in women with fibromyalgia

Abstract

Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with a number of comorbidities, including chronic widespread pain, fatigue and non-restorative sleep. Evidence has shown that FM is closely associated with overweight and obesity. The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between obesity and sleepiness in women with FM. A total of 100 adult female patients with a prior medical diagnosis of FM participated in the study. Body mass, height and waist circumference were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. The diet quality was evaluated by the Healthy Eating Index. Subjective analyses of daytime sleepiness [Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)] and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality) were performed. An obesity rate of 41 % was found in all women (56.1 % were sleepy and 43.9 % were not, p = 0.04). Obese women showed a greater level of sleepiness when compared with non-obese (10.2 and 7.0, respectively, p = 0.004). Sleepy women showed a greater weight gain after the diagnosis of FM when compared with non-sleepy women (11.7 and 6.4 kg, respectively, p = 0.04). A positive and significant correlation between BMI and sleepiness (r = 0.35, p = 0.02) was also found. In multivariate logistic regression, moderate or severe sleepiness (ESS >12) was associated with obesity (odds ratio 3.44, 95 % CI 1.31-9.01, p = 0.04). These results demonstrate an important association between sleepiness and FM, suggesting that the occurrence of obesity may be involved with sleepiness in these patients.

Psychometric properties of Turkish version of Jenkins sleep scale in fibromyalgia syndrome

“…In a previous study, daytime sleepiness was assessed using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and sleepiness was found to be significantly higher in obese FMS patients. However, in the same study, there was no significant difference in the mean PSQI scores of obese and non-obese FMS patients [29]. The mean score of the BMI in our study was smaller than previous studies assessing the relationship of obesity with sleep [30].…”

Fibromyalgia and Obesity

“…In a prospective study, and although ESS did not associate with BMI in our study, the limited number of FM patients with sleep apnea (who ought to be sleepy) tended to be obese. 53 We also cannot objectively determine whether FM causes obesity. The observation from our data that disease duration was not associated with BMI argues against that hypothesis, but does not disprove it.…”

Obesity and Chronic Pain

“…36 Obesity in fibromyalgia was associated with greater pain sensitivity, worse sleep quality, and reduced physical capacities. 36,76 Headaches The general association between obesity and headache is well documented. Obese patients have been shown to be much more likely to have or to have progressed to chronic daily headaches than patients with BMIs less than 25 (ORs, 1.34 and 5.28, respectively).…”