Aim. The purposes of the current study were: (i) to analyse the associations of overall physical fitness (OPF) and subjective well-being (SWB) with fibromyalgia symptom severity (FS); and (ii) to test the combined effect of OPF and SWB on FS among female patients.
Methods. This cross-sectional study included 424 fibromyalgia women. OPF and the components of SWB, positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and cognitive well-being (CWB), and FS were assessed by means of the Functional Senior Physical Fitness Test Battery, the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, respectively.
Results. Significant associations of OPF, PA, NA, and CWB (β=-.23, β=-.18, β=.26, and β=-.18, respectively) with FS were observed. The combination of high OPF and high PA, low NA, or high CWB reduced FS by ∼20% (Cohen's d > 1.0).
Conclusion. Our findings support that multidisciplinary interventions aimed to increase physical fitness holistically and to enhance subjective well-being may be particularly advisable for patients with low OPF and low SWB.
Corresponding author. festevez@ugr.es
