Perception of quality of life, mood symptoms, coping strategies, and treatment for adults with fibromyalgia

Abstract

This research intent to evaluate the level of pain, quality of life, coping strategies, and treatments sought by patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM). It was conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study with 81 adults (M = 46.01; SD = 9.72), of whom 80 were women, previously diagnosed with FM. Questionnaires on sociodemographic data, pain (McGill Pain Questionnaire – Short Form), quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument – Brief Version), impact of fibromyalgia (Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire – Brazilian Version), coping strategies (Brief COPE), and problem-solving coping strategies (Ways of Coping Scale – EMEP) were applied. Regarding the level of pain, the most prominent word was "exhausting", then "painful", with a high index (M = 29.2; SD = 10.2). The WHOQOL-bref pointed that the psychological domain was perceived as having better quality, and the biggest part of the participants evaluated their quality of life as neither bad nor good (32.1%), with a significant number reporting being very dissatisfied with their health (44.4%). Most participants reported severe symptoms of FM impact their quality of life, with a FIQR-BR score above 70 points (66.7%). The Brief COPE showed that the most used coping strategy was religion, while the EMEP revealed that the most used was emotion focused. The use of medicines was identified as a treatment with both the best and worst results. These results suggests that FM negatively impacts quality of life, with no single recommended treatment or control strategy, highlighting the need for a multidisciplinary approach.