title: Physical fitness reference standards in fibromyalgia: The al-Ándalus project.
abstract: We aimed (1) to report age-specific physical fitness levels in people with fibromyalgia of a representative sample from Andalusia; and (2) to compare the fitness levels of people with fibromyalgia with non-fibromyalgia controls. This cross-sectional study included 468 (21 men) patients with fibromyalgia and 360 (55 men) controls. The fibromyalgia sample was geographically representative from southern Spain. Physical fitness was assessed with the Senior Fitness Test battery plus the handgrip test. We applied the Generalized Additive Model for Location, Scale and Shape to calculate percentile curves for women and fitted mean curves using a linear regression for men. Our results show that people with fibromyalgia reached worse performance in all fitness tests than controls (P < 0.001) in all age ranges (P < 0.001). This study provides a comprehensive description of age-specific physical fitness levels among patients with fibromyalgia and controls in a large sample of patients with fibromyalgia from southern of Spain. Physical fitness levels of people with fibromyalgia from Andalusia are very low in comparison with age-matched healthy controls. This information could be useful to correctly interpret physical fitness assessments and helping health care providers to identify individuals at risk for losing physical independence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Gallardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.|Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Science, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carbonell-Baeza
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.|Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Science, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8655-9857
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Segura-Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soriano-Maldonado
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS, Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Intemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.|Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Aparicio
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.|Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Estévez-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camiletti-Moirón
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herrador-Colmenero
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delgado-Fernández
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ortega
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000886:Anthropometry; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012015:Reference Standards; D013030:Spain; D000070857:Walk Test
keywords: Cardiorespiratory fitness; chronic pain; flexibility; physical function; physical performance; speed-agility; strength