Therapeutic Neuroscience Education in Individuals With Fibromyalgia

Investigation Of The Efficacy Of Therapeutic Neuroscience Education In Individuals With Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Therapeutic Neuroscience Education (TNE) in individuals with Fibromyalgia (FM). The study included 25 females with FM, randomly separated into two groups as the intervention group (Clinical Pilates Exercises+TNE, n=11) and the control group (Clinical Pilates Exercises, n=14).

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 18-65 years,
• female gender,
• a VAS of at least 40mm to report the pain intensity of the last week,
• having been diagnosed with FM for at least 1 year to present a range of somatic and cognitive symptoms in addition to widespread pain,
• using a fixed dose of medication for at least the past 6 months (serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors [Ex, duloxetine, milnacipran]; alpha 2-delta receptor ligand [Ex, pregabalin]; gabapentinoids).

Exclusion Criteria:

• the presence of another disease which may affect the physical condition,
• cognitive impairment at a level preventing cooperation,
• being pregnant,
• inability to understand or speak Turkish,
• concurrent autoimmune or inflammatory disease,
• the presence of a central nervous system disease (eg multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease),
• serious psychiatric conditions (eg, psychotic disorders) that would prevent participation,
• participation in a rehabilitation program in the past year,
• have been exercising regularly for 6 months,
• not participating in at least 75% of treatments.