Correlation between Different Psychological Variables in Women with Fibromyalgia with Symptoms of Neurogenic Inflammation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome hypothesized to arise from a state of neurogenic inflammation. Mechanisms responsible for pain, as well as psychological variables, are typically altered in this condition. The main objective of this research was to explore somatosensory and psychological alterations in women with FM. The secondary objective was to carry out a secondary analysis to correlate the different variables studied and delve into the influences between them. The relationship between different psychological variables in fibromyalgia is not clear in the previous scientific literature. Forty-four individuals participated, of which twenty-two were controls and twenty-two were women with fibromyalgia. The main outcome measures were the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, pressure pain threshold, conditioned pain modulation, anxiety and depression symptoms, catastrophizing and kinesiophobia cognitions. The main analysis showed that there is a moderate correlation between the psychological variables of depression and fear of movement and the ability to modulate pain. There is also a moderately inverse correlation between pain catastrophizing cognitions and pain intensity/disability. Multiple moderate and strong correlations were found among the various psychological variables studied. FM patients exhibit somatosensory alterations alongside negative psychological symptoms that influence the experience of pain, and they may perpetuate the state of neurogenic inflammation.

Keywords

• fibromyalgia
• hyperalgesia
• conditioned pain modulation
• anxiety
• depression
• kinesiophobia