Use of Whole Body Vibration in Patients With Fibromyalgia

Pressure stimuli were applied on two bilateral body locations: epicondyles and index finger. The pressure pain threshold was defined as the pressure value considered as painful by the participant.

Vibration thresholds at the great toes and at the index fingers were quantified bilaterally using a Vibratron II (Physitemp, Clifton, USA). Using a two-alternative forced-choice procedure, subjects identified which of two rods was vibrating. Vibration values displayed on the control unit are vibration units (the amplitude of vibration, proportional to the square of applied voltage). Vibration threshold for the index finger in the normal population between 18 and 65 years of age is 0.7 vibration units with a standard deviation of 0.4 vibration units. The vibration threshold for the great toe in a similar population is 1.2 vibration units with a standard deviation of 0.5 vibration units. There is an increase in threshold scores and in variance as a function of age. There is an increase in threshold scores and variance depending on age. When the vibratory threshold is lower, it indicates the patient's greater ability to detect vibratory stimuli.

This is a functional balance assessment tool, consisting of 14 functional tasks with values ranging from 0 (cannot perform) to 4 (normal performance). The general scores range from 0 (severely impaired balance) to 56 (excellent balance). The Berg scale has been previously used in patients with fibromyalgia to assess balance.

The 6MWT is a functional test in which the patient walks what he can during 6 minutes, analyzing the total distance walked.

A back muscle dynamometer was used to measure isometric back muscle strength.

The CvMob is an Open Source tool for the movement analysis. The software is capable to analyse the trajectories and to determinate the kinematic variables from a movie, that can be done with a simple camera. The tool includes the Movement Elements Decomposition Method (MED).In the present study, we analyzed the oscillatory body movements during the test performance. These ocillatory movements should be minimal with good balance.The patients were asked to remain in orthostatic position with feet parallel at shoulder height, arms extended along the body and eyes closed for 1 minute. A body marker is placed on the patient's head. A camera placed on the ceiling records the movements. Subsequently, the software analyzes and decomposes the movement that the patient has described in the anteroposterior and mediolateral axis. Higher values represent a worse outcome.

Subjects were instructed to walk on a 4 meters carpet at their normal walking step, with shocks and with flexed arms positioned on the abdomen. Optical markers were attached at the following three body positions: area between the lateral condyle of the femur and the fibular head, great trochanter and lateral malleolus. Subject's motion was digitally recorded with a video camera at 210 frames per second (CasioExilimEX-FS10). The camera was positioned at a distance of 4 meters from the carpet to visualize changes in position, velocity and anatomical points along the x-axis. It was calculated the stride length by an open- source software for computer vision analysis of human movement.

The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) is an assessment and evaluation instrument developed to measure fibromyalgia (FM) patient status, progress and outcomes. It has been designed to measure the components of health status that are believed to be most affected by fibromyalgia. The FIQ is a self administered instrument that takes approximately 5 minutes to complete. The directions are simple and the scoring is self-explanatory. The FIQ is scored in such a way that a higher score indicates a greater impact of the syndrome on the person. Each of the 10 items has a maximum possible score of 10. Thus the maximum possible score is 100. The average FM patient scores about 50, severely afflicted patients are usually 70 plus.

Each participant was asked to indicate their current level of pain using a 20 cm VAS that ranged from 0 (no pain) to 100 (highest level of pain).

The Quality of Life Index (QLI) is a self-report questionnaire that measures perceived health-related quality of life. We used the total score of QLI. Its scale is scored by simply adding the score on each item. The range of scores is between 15 to 105, with a higher score or number being indicative of a higher quality of life. An average total rating for a healthy person is usually around 90, whereas a low quality of life measures around 15.