Results of an interdisciplinary psychoeducational intervention with EMDR in patients with fibromyalgia: A private center experience

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a multidisciplinary protocol (psychology, rheumatology, sports medicine, sleep unit and nutrition) in patients with fibromyalgia. Material and methods: Changes in the state of anxiety (main objective), intensity of pain, its impact on daily activities and “in situ” subjective limitations, were evaluated. The psychological approach included a psychoeducational process as a general framework and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing techniques (EMDR) as an instrument of emotional regulation. An intra-subject design was used with pre and post-study measurements whose instruments were the trait anxiety inventory (STAI), the WOMAC pain dimension (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index), a specific test measuring the impact of pain on daily life activities (designed on purpose) and a subjective “in situ” scale of pain intensity (Thierry scale). The use of EMDR practices (bilateral music, the butterfly-hug manoeuvre or similar) and the degree of patient satisfaction were assessed in percentage terms at the end of the study Results: A total of 56 women with a mean age of 51 (± 10) years and aged between 30 to 73 years were studied. The participants were distributed from 2016 to 2020 in 8 successive groups of no more than 10 members per group. Each group received 10 sessions (one per week) lasting an hour and a half that were divided into 6 sessions of psychology and 1 session of rheumatology, sports medicine, sleep unit and nutrition. The results showed significant positive effects after the program, with post-intervention improvements in the state of trait anxiety (p = 0.0000/p < 0.005) (d = 0.427) intensity of pain (p = 0.0003) (d = 0.344), impact of pain on daily activities (p = 0.0000/p < 0.005) (d = 0.486) and in the subjective sensation of pain intensity (no patients exhibiting “very significant pain”). At the end of the study, 46 patients (83 %) had adopted EMDR (self-administered practice) to reduce anxiety and pain and in addition, a high degree of satisfaction post- intervention was reported. Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach based on a general psychoeducational intervention and a self-administered EMDR technique could help to soften the symptomatic impact of fibromyalgia.