Fibromyalgia Study Hopes To Decrease Pain, Other Symptoms

Main Category: Fibromyalgia
Also Included In: Pain / Anesthetics
Article Date: 15 Jan 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine seek 200 people with fibromyalgia to determine if motivational reminder telephone calls can prompt patients to exercise more regularly.

Fibromyalgia is a disease that causes pain in the muscles and tissue surrounding joints in nearly 5 percent of the population. Although not life-threatening, fibromyalgia can have a debilitating effect on a person's quality of life by causing body aches, headaches, stiffness and disrupted sleep. One of the common prescriptions for the disease is exercise.

This federally funded research study will investigate a telephone-based support system used to encourage people with fibromyalgia to pursue a healthy lifestyle, which could lead to improvement in symptoms. Participants will receive six telephone calls and will undergo outcome assessments at weeks one, 12, 24 and 36.

Eligible participants include fibromyalgia patients between the ages of 18 and 65 years who have no medical conditions that restrict participation in moderate physical activity. The ongoing study will evaluate the effectiveness of exercise-based motivational interviewing.

Individuals interested in the study can go to http://www.fibrofit.net to pre-qualify, or call Janna Hilligoss at 317-272-1755 for more information .

Indiana University School of Medicine