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CLINICAL TRIAL article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1400590

THE IMPACT OF EXERCISE INTENSITY ON DEPRESSION IN FIBROMYALGIA: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Provisionally accepted
Guilherme T. Vilarino Guilherme T. Vilarino 1*Danilo R. Coimbra Danilo R. Coimbra 2Henrique P. Neiva Henrique P. Neiva 3Alexandro Andrade Alexandro Andrade 1
  • 1 Santa Catarina State University, Florianopolis, Brazil
  • 2 Juiz de Fora Federal University, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • 3 University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Portugal

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is characterized by widespread chronic pain. Although pain is the main symptom, approximately 90% of patients have depression. This study aimed to analyze the effects of Resistance Training (RT) with low and high intensity on depression in patients with FM. Methods: Thirty-eight women with FM and 31 healthy women were allocated to the low-intensity, high-intensity, preferred-intensity, and control groups. The patients underwent eight weeks of supervised RT, with two sessions per week of approximately one hour. The low-intensity resistance training group (LIRT) performed two sets of 12 maximum repetitions. The high-intensity resistance training group (HIRT) performed four sets with six maximum repetitions, and the preferred intensity group (PI) performed three sets, with eight to 12 repetitions, according to the patient's tolerance. The healthy control group did not perform any type of exercise. Depression was assessed using the Beck depression inventory before the start of the intervention, after 4 and 8 weeks. Results: FM patients have higher levels of depression than women without the disease. After 4 weeks, there was a difference in depressive symptoms between the HIRT and LIRT (p = 0.048), and the PI and LIRT (p = 0.048). Conclusion: Prescribing RT with low or high intensity did not significantly reduce depression in patients with FM after 8 weeks, however, analyses between groups after 4 weeks indicated that low-intensity training is more effective than high-intensity training. The prescription of RT exercise to FM could vary among low, high, and preferred intensity, following the patient’s tolerance for pain. Trial registration: The research was registered in the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (no. RBR-74pcmw - https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-74pcmw)

    Keywords: Affective Disorders, depressive symptoms, Mental Health, strength training, Resistance Training, physical activity

    Received: 15 Mar 2024; Accepted: 17 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Vilarino, Coimbra, Neiva and Andrade. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Guilherme T. Vilarino, Santa Catarina State University, Florianopolis, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.