Impact of fibromyalgia on sexual function in women.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of sexual problems is very high among women with fibromyalgia. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of sexual problems in women with FM and the potential association among physical activity, quality of life and sexual function. We aimed to contribute in the understanding of the relationships between sexual function and the symptoms of FM. METHODS: The sample of this cross-sectional study comprised 113 women with FM and 116 age-matched women without FM. Sexual function was assessed using the 15D questionnaire. Health-related quality of life (using EQ-5D-5L and 15D questionnaires), impact of fibromyalgia and physical activity were also assessed. RESULTS: The prevalence of sexual problems among women with fibromyalgia was 76%, while it was 15% in healthy controls. This prevalence was even higher among those aged 50 or over. Sexual function was significantly associated with quality of life, distance walked, impact of fibromyalgia and four of the symptoms: depression, anxiety, tenderness and memory problems. CONCLUSION: More than three out of four women with fibromyalgia have any kind of sexual problem. Depression, anxiety and tenderness seems to be the most relevant symptoms associated with sexual function. Physical activity may be protective and reduce the risk of having sexual problems.

Effect of exergames on musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The main objective was to systematically review the scientific literature about the effects of exergame-based interventions on musculoskeletal pain, as well as to provide directions for the clinical practice. A systematic search was conducted in four electronic databases following PRISMA guidelines. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) the subjects were suffering musculoskeletal pain, (b) the study was randomized controlled trial (RCT), (c) intervention was based on exergames, (d) the article was written in English, and (e) the article was not an abstract or summary presented in a congress or conference. Risk of bias and quality of evidence were evaluated using the PEDro Scale and GRADE approach, respectively. A meta-analysis was carried out to determine effect sizes. Seven studies were selected in the systematic review. The meta-analysis included those six articles which reported means and SD before and after treatment and used a visual analog scale or a Numeric Pain Rating Scale. Four of the seven articles reported significant reduction in pain while the rest did not found any significant change in pain after the intervention. The overall effect size for pain was -0.51 (95% CI from -1.25 to 0.23) with large heterogeneity. Although four of the seven articles reported significant within-group differences, zero was included in the CI of the overall effect size. Therefore, up-to-date there is not enough evidence to conclude that exergames improve musculoskeletal pain.

Waist circumference and waist:height ratio percentiles using LMS method in Chilean population.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The concern over the weight gain problem continues to grow among both the international scientific community and public health authorities, since overweight and obesity prevalence rates continue to increase worldwide. In Chile, two out of three people are overweight, whereas 25% of the adult population is obese. Abdominal fat, has been linked to the development of a number of metabolic disorders. Waist circumference (WC) and the waist:height ratio (WHtR) have recently been evidenced as good predictors of metabolic risk for both adults and children. Thus, the present work aims at establishing smoothed centile charts and LMS tables for WC and WHtR for Chilean adults based on data from the National Health Survey-ENS, in order to have reliable information for identifying groups at risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: A sample of 4788 subjects aged 15-75 years old (mean age 46 ± 18 years old) was considered. Body weight, height, and WC were measured and Body Mass Index (BMI) and WHtR were also determined. Percentiles were calculated using the L (curve Box-Cox), M (curve median), S (curve coefficient of variation) method. In the obese group the WC cutoff values were 99.75 cm and 92.35 cm for men and women, respectively. The cutoff point for WHtR was 0.59 for both obese men and women. CONCLUSION: The study shows, for the first time, reference values for WC and WHtR for Chilean adults.

Application of EQ-5D-5L questionnaire in patients suffering from urinary incontinence. / Aplicación del cuestionario EQ-5D-5L en pacientes que padecen incontinencia urinaria.

BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence is associated with reduced quality of life and given the high prevalence of people with this condition, it could be useful to know the impact of having urinary incontinence on physical, psychological and social aspects. The Spanish value set of EQ-5D was used to assign single scores to the EQ-5D-5L health states. EQ-5D-5L is a health-related quality of life questionnaire, which allows assessing health status. The aim of this study was to provide normative values of EQ-5D-5L in a population sample with urinary incontinence. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: A total of 965 people with urinary incontinence (297 men and 668 women) were included in this study. EQ-5D-5L index, VAS and health status are showed in the current study considering gender, age group, region, marital status, smoking status, net monthly incomes of household and educational level. RESULTS: Higher prevalence was observed in women (69.22%) compared with men (30.78%). Mean (SD) EQ-5D-5L utility index and VAS score were 0.58 (0.40) and 53.91 (22.16), respectively, for overall population. The 16.1% (155 people) reported perfect health status (11111). The utility equivalent to set values 55555 was not reported by anyone. CONCLUSION: This study provides normative values of EQ-5D-5L in a Spanish population sample with urinary incontinence.

Normative values of EQ-5D-5L: in a Spanish representative population sample from Spanish Health Survey, 2011.

PURPOSE: To derive EQ-5D-5L Spanish population norms based on a national representative sample adjusted by age, gender and region. METHODS: A representative sample of the Spanish general population (n = 21,007) was used in a cross-sectional study. The source of data was the Spanish National Health Survey 2011-2012. All socio-demographic factors and clinical characteristics were carried to a descriptive analysis. All variables were stratified by region, gender and age-group. RESULTS: The utility value 1 is the most repeated (62%) in this representative population sample. This study showed a deterioration of health states as age increases. Overall, men reported better health status than women. In relation to ceiling effect by regions, there was little difference with the highest scores. Conversely, the lowest score corresponds to Galicia. CONCLUSIONS: The paper reports EQ-5D-5L normative data for Spanish general population, based on a national representative sample adjusted by region, gender and age-group. These results may serve as reference data of the population health status. A regional difference in health status could be observed, which might suggest that policies aiming to reduce regional inequalities are important.

Fear of Falling in Women with Fibromyalgia and Its Relation with Number of Falls and Balance Performance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate fear of falling, number of falls, and balance performance in women with FM and to examine the relationship between these variables and others, such as balance performance, quality of life, age, pain, and impact of fibromyalgia. METHODS: A total of 240 women participated in this cross-sectional study. Of these, 125 had fibromyalgia. Several variables were assessed: age, fear of falling from 0 to 100, number of falls, body composition, balance performance, lower limb strength, health-related quality of life, and impact of fibromyalgia. RESULTS: Women with fibromyalgia reported more falls and more fear of falling. Fear of falling was associated with number of falls in the last year, stiffness, perceived balance problems, impact of FM, and HRQoL whereas the number of falls was related to fear of falling, balance performance with eyes closed, pain, tenderness to touch level, anxiety, self-reported balance problems, impact of FM, and HRQoL. CONCLUSION: FM has an impact on fear of falling, balance performance, and number of falls. Perceived balance problems seem to be more closely associated with fear of falling than objective balance performance.

[Validity and reliability of the spanish EQ-5D-Y proxy version]. / Validez y fiabilidad de la versión proxy del EQ-5D-Y en español.

INTRODUCTION: A proxy version of the EQ-5D-Y, a questionnaire to evaluate the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents, has recently been developed. There are currently no data on the validity and reliability of this tool. The objective of this study was to analyze the validity and reliability of the EQ-5D-Y proxy version. METHODOLOGY: A core set of self-report tools, including the Spanish version of the EQ-5D-Y were administered to a group of Spanish children and adolescents drawn from the general population. A similar core set of internationally standardized proxy tools, including the EQ-5D-Y proxy version were administered to their parents. Test-retest reliability was determined, and correlations with other generic measurements of HRQoL were calculated. Additionally, known group validity was examined by comparing groups with a priori expected differences in HRQoL. The agreement between the self-report and proxy version responses was also calculated. RESULTS: A total of 477 children and adolescents and their parents participated in the study. One week later, 158 participants completed the EQ-5D-Y/EQ-5D-Y proxy to facilitate reliability analysis. Agreement between the test-retest scores was higher than 88% for EQ-5D-Y self-report, and proxy version. Correlations with other health measurements showed similar convergent validity to that observed in the international EQ-5D-Y. Agreement between the self-report and proxy versions ranged from 72.9% to 97.1%. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the EQ-5D-Y proxy version.

[Translation and cultural adaptation to spanish of the questionnaire EQ-5D-Y Proxy version]. / Traducción y adaptación cultural al español de la versión Proxy del cuestionario EQ-5D-Y.

INTRODUCTION: The Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) questionnaire EQ-5D-Y for children and adolescents has been development and validated recently for its use in Spanish. However, the Spanish Proxy version of this tool has not yet been developed. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the international version of EQ-5D-Y Proxy into Spanish to measure the health related quality of life in the child and adolescent population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This study has been developed in the following phases: a) Transcultural adaptation of the international questionnaire by means of a direct translation to Spanish and back-translation to English, b) evaluation of the clarity, acceptability and familiarity of the first version of the questionnaire using probing and paraphrasing methods in 30 parents of children and adolescents distributed by sex and age. MAIN RESULTS: The Spanish EQ-5Y Proxy version was obtained. The interviewed participants indicated an excellent comprehensibility of the items and the perceived difficulty was less than 2 in all dimensions of the questionnaire, except in mobility where it was a slightly higher. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish EQ-5D-Y Proxy version has shown to be well understandable and adapted to Spanish parents of children and adolescents. Its easy administration makes this questionnaire potentially useful in different fields.

Whole body vibration improves the single-leg stance static balance in women with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial.

AIM: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread pain. Fibromyalgia is associated with balance problems and increased fall frequency. Whole-body vibration therapy had been used for improve balance in special populations but not in fibromyalgia. The main objective of this study was to analyze the effects of 12 weeks of tilting whole-body vibration therapy on static balance in fibromyalgia patients. METHODS: Women with FM were randomly and sequentially assigned to either the vibration group (N.=21) or the control group (N.=20) based on a randomly generated number table, and a code number was assigned to each participant. All participants received standard care that included medical care through the public health system (hospital and outpatient clinic, including primary care) and social support through the local fibromyalgia association. Participants in the exercise group received whole-body vibration therapy (12 weeks, 12.5 Hz frequency and 3 mm amplitude). Outcome measure was determined using postural stability indices (overall, anterior-posterior and medial-lateral) assessed by the Biodex Balance System in a single dominant limb stance. RESULTS: Treatment effect after 12-weeks of tilting whole body vibration therapy were 57.1% on overall stability and 66.6% on anterior-posterior stability. CONCLUSION: Tilting whole-body vibration therapy effectively improves static balance in patients with FM.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity in non-institutionalized people aged 65 or over from Spain: the elderly EXERNET multi-centre study.

Coupled with the growth of the older population, an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this age group has occurred in the last decades. The main aims of the present study were (i) to provide an updated prevalence of overweight and obesity in a representative sample of the Spanish elderly population; (ii) to calculate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity (SO) and (iii) to analyse the relationships between adiposity measurements and lifestyle. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 3136 persons representative of the non-institutionalized population ≥65 years of age. Anthropometric measurements were obtained using standardized techniques and equipment. Overall, 84% of the population can be categorized as overweight and/or obese. The present study indicates that 67% of the Spanish elderly population has an increased percentage of fat mass and more than 56% suffer from central obesity. Moreover, SO is present in 15% of the Spanish elderly population. Finally, a strong relationship between both physically active and sedentary lifestyles and the level of adiposity was found. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among elderly people in Spain is very high and is still increasing. Lifestyle seems to be a determinant factor in the development of obesity among elderly people.