The effect of novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on fibromyalgia syndrome

Abstract

Objective. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is a complex disease that is mainly characterised by chronic widespread pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances and may be precipitated or worsened by many stressors. The aim of this study was to observe the behaviour of FM symptoms during the course of coronavirus disease 2019 . Methods. Patients who had been diagnosed as having FM for ≥3 months were recruited between February and May 2020. The collected data were age, sex, educational level and marital status; height and weight; and the scores of the revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR), the modified Fibromyalgia Assessment Status 2019 (FASmod), and the Polysymptomatic Distress Scale (PDS). The patients were divided into those with or without concomitant COVID-19 infection. Results. Eight hundred and ninety-seven (93%) of the 965 patients (881 women [91.3%] and 84 men [8.7%]) were followed up on an outpatient basis because of FM and 68 (7.0%) were either followed up as out-patients or hospitalised because of COVID-19. There was no difference in the sociodemographic data of the two groups, but there were statistically significant between-group differences in the results of the clinimetric tests. The major differences between the score of the items (those with the greatest disease impact) were the following related symptoms: sleep quality (FIQR15), fatigue/energy (FIQR13), pain (FIQR12), stiffness (FIQR14). Conclusion.The mean total and subdomain scores of all the tests were significantly higher in the patients with COVID-19, which suggests that global FM symptoms are more severe in patients with infection. Further studies of the post-COVID19 patients are being carried out in order to discover whether the worsened symptomatology continues because of their hypersensitised state.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental and physical wellbeing in women with fibromyalgia: a longitudinal mixed-methods study

“…The results of our study support these concerns, as the majority of participants reported an overall worsening of pain, fatigue and other FM symptoms, as well as mental well-being and ability to cope. Moreover, the impact of FM (measured using the FIQR) was found to be significantly higher compared to pre-pandemic levels, similar to previous studies [17]. In contrast, another study assessing the FIQR scores before and during the pandemic (May 2020), did not find significant changes in FIQR.…”

“…Additionally, Salaffi et al demonstrated that contracting the virus led to a worsening of the disease impact on sleep quality, energy levels, pain levels, and stiffness [16]. A previous ambispective study reported an increase of pain and FM impact five months after the pandemic [17]. Our study aimed at evaluating whether and to what extent the changes occurring during the COVID-19 health emergency affected FM patients' pain, mental health, ability to cope, and physical functioning utilizing qualitative and quantitative measures.…”

Fibromyalgia: one year in review 2022

“…However, it has been found that empathy is inversely proportional to the difficulty of managing FM patients, once again underlining the importance of the human relationship between patients and their doctors (2). 2021 also saw the publication of many studies on the physical and mental impact of COVID-19 on the lives of the FM patients (3)(4)(5), the vast majority of whom not only had to stop their complementary (and sometimes even their pharmacological) treatments (3), and moreover, those who contracted the virus experienced an overall deterioration in the three main FM domains of pain, sleep disturbances, and fatigue (4).…”

COVID 19 - Algunas lecciones y muchas más por aprender

“…Los síntomas más frecuentes fueron disnea, fatiga y dolor torácico 10 . Se ha identificado el incremento en la frecuencia de síntomas compatibles con fibromialgia y con puntajes más altos en aquellos pacientes con infección previa por COVID-19 11 . Por esta razón, se hace fundamental estar atentos al impacto de esta infección en el curso de la enfermedad, lo que hace muy relevante la revisión en torno a la fibromialgia en la nueva era de la infección por SARS-CoV-2 y el síndrome postCOVID-19.…”