This new project also involves the University of Salford (United Kingdom) and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), as well as experts from Lancaster University, Ohio University and the University of Michigan.
Exercise-based treatment for fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that causes generalised pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances and difficulties with memory and concentration and affects approximately 2.5% of the Spanish population, most of them women. Although clinical guidelines recommend physical activity as a main method of treatment, many people drop out of programmes or fail to maintain them over time.
Given the situation, the aim of the FRAME project is to better understand the factors that make exercise programmes more effective and sustainable for each patient, considering their social context and the healthcare system. The purpose is to generate clinically applicable knowledge that will make it possible to design more personalised interventions and improve the quality of life of people with fibromyalgia.
The key aspects of this project
The project, which will have a duration of two years, features an innovative realist methodology, an approach which allows researchers to analyse not only whether an exercise-based intervention works, but also to understand what works, for whom, in what context and why.
In the initial phase, the research team will conduct a review of the scientific literature to identify factors that explain how exercise benefits people with fibromyalgia. This analysis will consider personal, social, cultural and healthcare system factors, with the aim of understanding why the same intervention may produce different results for different people or contexts.
These models will be subsequently evaluated through an international survey targeting both patients and healthcare practitioners from Spain, the United Kingdom and Greece. This second phase will make it possible to compare the results across different contexts and move towards more personalised and effective exercise strategies.
This new project is part of the research line currently being pursued by Dr Carolina Climent at UIC Barcelona on chronic pain, fibromyalgia and therapeutic exercise, with a particular focus on improving patients’ quality of life.
