title: Gender Differences in Symptoms, Health-Related Quality of Life, Sleep Quality, Mental Health, Cognitive Performance, Pain-Cognition, and Positive Health in Spanish Fibromyalgia Individuals: The Al-Ándalus Project.
abstract: Objective. To test the gender differences in tenderness, impact of fibromyalgia, health-related quality of life, fatigue, sleep quality, mental health, cognitive performance, pain-cognition, and positive health in Spanish fibromyalgia patients and in age-matched nonfibromyalgia individuals from the same region. To test the optimal cut-off score of the different tender points for women and men.Methods. A total of 405 (384 women) fibromyalgia versus 247 (195 women) nonfibromyalgia control participants from southern Spain (Andalusia) took part in this cross-sectional study. The outcomes studied were assessed by means of several tests.Results. In the fibromyalgia group, men showed better working memory than women (all,P< 0.01), whereas sleep latency was lower in women compared to men (P= 0.013). In the nonfibromyalgia group, men showed higher pain threshold in all the tender points (all,P< 0.01), except in right and left lateral epicondyle. Furthermore, men showed better working memory than women (all,P< 0.01), whereas memory performance was better in women compared to men (all,P≤ 0.01).Conclusion. The results of the present study do not support consistent evidence of gender differences in fibromyalgia-related symptoms. However, it seems that detriment of some symptoms (especially pain) in fibromyalgia men compared with their nonfibromyalgia counterparts is greater than those of fibromyalgia women compared with their nonfibromyalgia peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain; Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.identifier: 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; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2960-4142
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Estévez-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Department of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Almería, Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4626-420X
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soriano-Maldonado
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Inmaculada 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.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0636-9258
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delgado-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Jonatan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, 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, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Virginia A
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2867-378X
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Aparicio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires