Full Papers
Vagal modulation and symptomatology following a 6-month aerobic exercise program for women with fibromyalgia
B. Sañudo1, L. Carrasco2, M. De Hoyo3, A. Figueroa4, J.M. Saxton5
- Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, Spain.
- Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, Spain.
- Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Seville, Spain.
- Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
- Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, U.K.
CER8298
2015 Vol.33, N°1 ,Suppl.88
PI 0041, PF 0045
Full Papers
Free to view
(click on article PDF icon to read the article)
PMID: 25786042 [PubMed]
Received: 18/01/2015
Accepted : 02/02/2015
In Press: 17/03/2015
Published: 17/03/2015
Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To examine the effects of a supervised aerobic exercise programme on heart rate variability (HRV) parameters and symptom severity in women with fibromyalgia (FM).
METHODS:
Thirty-two women with FM were randomly allocated to one of two groups: aerobic exercise (AE) or usual care control for 24 weeks. Women allocated to AE performed two aerobic exercise sessions per week of 45-60 min duration including 15–20 min of steady-state aerobic exercise at 60-65% of predicted maximum heart rate (HRmax) and 15 min of interval training at 75-80% HRmax (six repetitions of 1.5 min, with 1 min interpolated rest intervals). Cardiac autonomic modulation was assessed using power spectral analysis of HRV. Symptom severity was assessed by a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, sleep disturbances, stiffness, anxiety and depression.
RESULTS:
After 24 weeks, the women in the exercise group showed an increase (4.8±0.2 to 5.2±0.2) in total power (LnTP, p<0.001), low frequency power (LnLF, p<0.01), high frequency power (LnHF, p<0.001), and the root-mean-square of successive R-R intervals (rMSSD, p<0.001). In addition, significant group-by-time interaction effects were observed for LnHF (p=0.036) and LnLF/HF (p=0.014). Improvements in anxiety and depression were also observed in AE versus control patients.
CONCLUSIONS:
These results show that a programme of aerobic exercise training induced changes in cardiac autonomic nervous system modulation in FM and that these changes in HRV parameters were accompanied by changes in anxiety and depression.
