Improvement of processing speed in patients with fibromyalgia: design and application of a cognitive intervention program

Abstract

Growing evidence indicates that cognitive slowness in fibromyalgia patients constitutes one of the main concerns. This slowing, together with the physical and affective symptomatology that characterises them, significantly affects their quality of life. The main objective of the present study was to design and apply a cognitive training program to test its effects on the improvement of speed processing information (SPI) in fibromyalgia, and how this improvement influences other clinical symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia. 22 patients took part of this rehabilitation program. It consisted of 8 sessions including several types of tasks: cancellation, visual search, association, and verbal fluency tasks. Before starting the training program, an individualized neuropsychological assessment of the SPI was performed through standardized tests. Additionally, different self-reported clinical questionnaires were applied to assess physical (pain and fatigue) and affective (anxiety, depression, catastrophic thoughts, and impact of the disease on instrumental activities) symptomatology. This evaluation was administered again once the program was completed, as well as five months later, as a follow-up.  ANOVAs showed a significant improvement in all neuropsychological assessment tests. In addition, both the depressive states and the impact of the disease on the instrumental activities were improved. These effects remained stable after five months. The application of this neuropsychological rehabilitation program has shown to be effective for improving SPI processes in patients with fibromyalgia. Moreover, this improvement of IPV had a direct impact on depressive symptomatology and instrumental activities of daily living, suggesting a strong relationship between cognitive and affective symptoms in the course of the disease.