Supervisors info:
Αργύρα Εριφύλη, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Χρούσος Γεώργιος, Καθηγητής,Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Δαρβίρη Χριστίνα, Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Background: Fibromyalgia (FMS), is a chronic syndrome, characterized mainly by widespread musculoskeletal pain that negatevily affects quality of life of the patients. Stress seems to play an important role to managing manifestations of the disease. FMS is most prevalent in middle-aged women, its prevalence is 2–5%. Being a polysymptomatic disorder, along with pain, has a major impact on patient’s physical, psychological and social well-being. Stress seems to play an important role to managing manifestations of the disease. This study evaluated the effects of a newly introduced non-pharmacological 8-week self-administered stress management intervention, called Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention (PSAI), on patients with FMS. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study sixty four FMS-women were recruited in various Pain-Clinics in Athens (Greece) and were assigned to two groups; the PSAI group and the usual care (UC) group. Self-reported questionnaires were used for a variety of variables such as perceived stress, depression, anxiety, healthy lifestyle, spirituality, satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy, attitudes towards death, anger, health locus of control, emotional intelligence, guilt and shame, positive and negative affect, sleep disorders, sense of coherence, fatigue, memory, pain, personality. HRV measures were also collected. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention. Results: Statistical analyses revealed that significant post-intervention improvements were noted for almost all variables. Conclusion: PSAI showed benefits in various aspects of the lives of patients suffering from FMS. Future research should expand and validate the results of this study.
Keywords:
Fibromyalgia, Stress management, Pain, Depression, Anxiety, Pythagorean self-awareness intervention.
