Support, Health, and Fibromyalgia

December 3, 2013 updated by: San Diego State University

Social Support and Health in Fibromyalgia

This study tests the effects of social support and education on the health and well-being of people with fibromyalgia (FMS). We recruited 600 adults with a confirmed diagnosis of FMS from a large health maintenance organization. We randomly assigned the study participants to one of three groups. People in the social support group met with others who suffer from FMS for 2 hours every week for 10 weeks, and then monthly for an additional 10 months. The social support and education group also had 10 2-hour weekly meetings followed by 10 monthly meetings with others who suffer from FMS. Members of this group learned about the disease and ways they can manage it themselves. The third group participated only in the five assessment periods. The study lasted 4 years.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Next to osteoarthritis, FMS is the most common arthritis-related disease. Symptoms include musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, morning stiffness, and sleep disturbances. Fluctuating severity, pain, and frustration with the difficulty of diagnosis and treatment lead patients to continually seek help from health care professionals. There is no known cause or cure for this disease.

This study tests the effects of social support and education on the health and well-being of people with fibromyalgia (FMS). We recruited 600 adults with a confirmed diagnosis of FMS from a large health maintenance organization. To be eligible, people had to meet the American College of Rheumatology guidelines for FMS. After we confirmed the diagnosis, we assigned those who agreed to participate to one of three groups. The first group (social support) met with others who suffer from FMS for 2 hours every week for 10 weeks, and then monthly for an additional 10 months. The second group (social support and education) also had 10 2-hour weekly meetings followed by 10 monthly meetings with others who suffer from FMS, and its members learned about the disease and self-management techniques. The third group (control) participated only in the five assessment periods. We assessed people in all three groups before we assigned them to a group, after the intervention, and at yearly follow-ups. The study duration was 4 years.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

600

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Diego, California, United States, 92120
        • San Diego State University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • A diagnosis of fibromyalgia documented in medical records and confirmed using The American College of Rheumatology criteria for classification of FMS: (1) A history of widespread pain (pain on both sides of the body, above and below the waist, and present for at least 3 months). (2) Pain in 11 or more of 18 tender-point sites.
  • Patient willing to attend 10 weekly meetings and 10 monthly meetings.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who do not meet ACR criteria for FMS described above.
  • Patients who cannot attend meetings once a week for 10 weeks and once a month for 10 months were excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: FACTORIAL
  • Masking: NONE

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

San Diego State University

Collaborators

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Thereasa A. Cronan, San Diego State University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 1996

Study Completion

February 1, 2001

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 1999

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

November 4, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

December 4, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 3, 2013

Last Verified

March 1, 2001

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01AR044020 (NIH)
  • NIAMS-029

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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