Physical Activity and Sleep in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Physical Activity and Sleep in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Associations with Symptom Severity in the General Population Cohort LifeLines. This study was done at The University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Psychiatry, Groningen, Netherlands and published online 2018 Nov 4.

Functional somatic syndromes (FSS), including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), are common, disabling, and costly health conditions without known underlying organic pathology.

The main strength of this study is the large population cohort. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that evaluates physical activity and sleep duration in patients with CFS and FMS in one large population cohort.

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of the study was to compare physical activity and sleep duration between patients with CFS, patients with FMS, and controls and to examine the association between physical activity level and sleep duration with symptom severity within these patient groups.

METHODS:

This study used data from LifeLines, a general population cohort in which 1.0% reported CFS, 3.0%  reported FMS, and 95.7% reported neither CFS nor FMS. 

Physical activity, sleep duration, and symptom severity were assessed by questionnaires and analyzed using ANCOVA and regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, and educational level.

RESULTS:

Patients with CFS and FMS had significantly lower physical activity scores than controls. 

Patients with CFS had the longest sleep duration compared to patients with FMS and controls. 

A linear association between physical activity, sleep duration, and symptom severity was only found in controls, in whom higher physical total activity scores and longer sleep duration were associated with lower symptom severity. In contrast, quadratic associations were found in all groups: both relatively low and high physical activity scores and relatively short and long sleep duration were associated with higher symptom severity in CFS, FMS, and controls.

CONCLUSION:

This study indicates that patients with CFS or FMS sleep longer and are less physically active than controls on average. 

Both low and high levels of physical activity and short and long sleep duration are associated with higher symptom severity, suggesting the importance of patient-tailored treatment. 

FULL REPORT