title: Adherence during an individualized home based 12-week exercise program in women with fibromyalgia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Treatment recommendations for fibromyalgia (FM) include regular physical exercise. In this prospective study we examined predictors for adherence to stretching and aerobic exercises in women provided with an individualized home based program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine women kept exercise diaries for 12 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For both types of exercise, women who were less physically fit at baseline engaged in more exercise during the program. Yet for stretching, more lower body pain at baseline predicted engaging in less stretching exercise over time, whereas for aerobic exercise, more baseline upper body pain predicted more exercise over time. As time passed, participants with higher baseline physical fitness and/or older age were reducing their aerobic exercise practice at significantly faster rates, as were those women with higher baseline stress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given that adequate levels of adherence were limited to about half of the participants for both types of exercise, steps to reduce barriers to exercise (e.g., stress) need to be taken when prescribing exercise in the treatment of FM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. patricia.dobkin@mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Dobkin
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Da Costa
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abrahamowicz
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dritsa
authors.forename: Roxane
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Du Berger
authors.forename: Mary-Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fitzcharles
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lowensteyn
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010352:Patient Dropouts; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index