ASSOCIATION OF PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF PAIN, SLEEP QUALITY, AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE WITH THE IMPACT OF FIBROMYALGIA ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF WOMEN: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Chronic Pain. Comprehensive Health Care. Women. Sleep-Wake Transition Disorders. Walking.
Introduction: Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain, with a high prevalence among women and a significant impact on quality of life. Although psychosocial pain-related factors, sleep quality, and physical exercise are associated with the condition, evidence examining the combined contribution of these factors to the impact of fibromyalgia on quality of life remains limited. Objective: To analyze the predictive role of chronic pain self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, sleep quality, and weekly physical exercise duration on the impact of fibromyalgia on the quality of life of women with the condition. Methods: Data were collected between March 2024 and September 2025 at the Physiotherapy Teaching Clinic of FACISA/UFRN. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Chronic Pain Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSS), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Data collection lasted approximately 30 minutes per participant. Descriptive analyses included measures of central tendency and dispersion for quantitative variables and absolute and relative frequencies for categorical variables. Inferential analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression to develop a model examining which components (chronic pain self-efficacy, pain catastrophizing, sleep quality, and physical activity practice) were associated with the impact of fibromyalgia on participants’ quality of life. A significance level of 5% was adopted. Results: 82 women with fibromyalgia were included (age: 49.4 ± 10.0 years). All variables showed statistical significance as predictors of the impact of fibromyalgia on quality of life: chronic pain self-efficacy (β = -0.236), pain catastrophizing (β = 0.396), sleep quality (β = 0.181), and physical exercise duration (β = -0.273). The multiple linear regression model yielded an R² of 0.559 and demonstrated satisfactory goodness-of-fit measures, indicating the absence of multicollinearity. Conclusion: Based on the proposed model, chronic pain self-efficacy and weekly physical exercise duration acted as protective factors regarding the outcome, whereas pain catastrophizing and poor sleep quality were direct predictors of the impact of fibromyalgia on quality of life.