Electromyography-biofeedback for chronic low back pain: A qualitative cohort study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Surface electromyography-biofeedback (sEMG-BF) may reduce the burden of CLBP by improving physical functioning, sleep, pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression. This qualitative study investigated the impact of weekly EMG-BF sessions on adults with CLBP. METHODS: Twenty-six individuals with CLBP participated in telephone interviews after completing an 8-week virtual sEMG-BF intervention. Trained interviewers conducted the 10-to-15-minute semi-structured interviews to understand participants' experience with the intervention. Common themes and subthemes were identified and analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software. RESULTS: Participants were predominantly middle-aged females (M = 45, range of 19 - 66) who have had exposure to utilizing conventional therapies such as physical therapy, chiropractor, and massage for the treatment of CLBP. This study focused on participants who reported their experience of the main outcome study which included perceived reductions in CLBP symptoms, including pain and stress, and positive effects on self-awareness and sleep. Three overarching themes emerged and were further divided into subthemes: participants' involvement (virtual experience, accessibility of device, and future recommendations) perceived benefits (participants gained awareness, recommendations for future treatment, met expectations, and implementation), and desire for flexibility (obstacles and COVID-19 Impact). No adverse effects were reported by any of the participants within the study. CONCLUSIONS: Both physical and psychological improvements were reported by participants following an sEMG-BF intervention. Specific implementation procedures and critical barriers were identified. In particular, the ability to receive care for CLBP during the COVID-19 pandemic was important to participants.

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

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly influenced psychological and physical health worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the pandemic on women with fibromyalgia. METHODS: This mixed methods pilot study explored measures of pain severity and interference, as well as pain catastrophizing and level of fibromyalgia impact among women with fibromyalgia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. Fibromyalgia patients completed demographic, pain-related, and other validated psychosocial questionnaires prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then were re-assessed with those questionnaires, as well as a pandemic-related questionnaire assessing the impact of the pandemic on the patients' life, during the pandemic. RESULTS: When comparing data reported before the pandemic to data collected 3-6 months into the pandemic, women with fibromyalgia reported a general worsening of their pain and pain-related symptoms. During the pandemic, pain catastrophizing (p ≤ 0.05) and fibromyalgia impact (p ≤ 0.05) increased significantly compared to before the pandemic. The increase in pain catastrophizing scores was highly correlated with the impact of the pandemic on the participants' ability to cope with pain and on their mental health. Qualitative analysis corroborated the significant impact of the pandemic on patients' mental health, with the vast majority reporting a worsening of their mood. Other impacted domains included anxiety, level of activity and sleep. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, the pandemic appears to have produced a substantive worsening of pain-related symptomatology among women with fibromyalgia, which should be addressed by targeted interventions.