Short-Term Effects of Whole-Body Photobiomodulation on Pain, Quality of Life and Psychological Factors in a Population Suffering from Fibromyalgia: A Triple-Blinded Randomised Clinical Trial
Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a multifunctional
chronic musculoskeletal pain condition
characterised by sensory hypersensitivity. Photobiomodulation
(PBM) has shown a positive
impact on relieving pain; however, no studies to
our knowledge have analysed a whole-body
PBM intervention in subjects with FM. The aims
of the study were to compare the effects of
whole-body PBM with placebo PBM on pain,
functionality and psychological symptoms in
patients suffering from FM.
Methods: Forty-two subjects were recruited
from a private care practice. The design of the
study is a randomised, triple-blinded, placebocontrolled
clinical trial. Participants received 12
treatment sessions. Pain, quality of life, level of
physical activity and psychological factors were
assessed at baseline (T0), after session 6 (T1),
after treatment (T2) and at 2-week (T3) followup.
Results: There were statistically significant differences
in pain at 4 weeks (p B 0.001) (T2) and
the 2-week follow-up (T3) (p B 0.001). In relation
to the quality of life, there were statistically
significant improvements after session 6 (p
B 0.001) (T1), immediately after treatment (p
B 0.001) (T2) and at the 2-week (T3) follow-up
(p B 0.001). Kinesiophobia presented significant
differences between groups immediately
after treatment (p B 0.001) (T2) and at the
2-week (T3) follow-up (p B 0.001), with self-efficacy
only showing significant differences
between groups 2 weeks after the treatment
(p = 0.01) (T2). There were no differences
between groups when comparing pain catastrophising
at any time.
Conclusion: Whole-body PBM resulted in a
significant reduction in pain and an improvement
in quality of life in those participants
suffering from FM after receiving 4 weeks of
treatment. Furthermore, psychological factors
such as kinesiophobia and self-efficacy were also
improved. Thus, a whole-body PBM treatment
is presented as a possible new multifactorial
treatment with potential benefits for those with
FM and more studies are needed to corroborate
our findings
