SynthesisEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2025
Aerobic Exercise Prescription for Pain Reduction in Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in European journal of pain (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Perception and lived experience of movement in patients with fibromyalgia: a qualitative systematic review with meta-synthesis and meta-summary.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Pooled it
- Pain in People With Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) Undergoing or Following Surgery: A Systematic Narrative Review.Pain research & management · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Optimal aerobic exercise dose for pain relief in fibromyalgia syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Pooled it
- Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation and Pain With Movement in People With Fibromyalgia: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Strength Training Versus Walking on the Fibromyalgia Impact: A Blinded Randomised Controlled Trial.Musculoskeletal care · 2025Trial
- The Effects of a 12-Week Home-Based Adapted Physical Activity Intervention on Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adult Women with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: An Interventional Field Study.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- The Effect of Intravenous Lidocaine Treatment on Sleep and Quality of Life in Fibromyalgia: An Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Exercise and pharmacologic management of fibromyalgia.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- The prevalence of fibromyalgia syndrome in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and the impact of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on fibromyalgia symptoms.Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung · 2026Article
- Effects of a Strength and Creative Dance Intervention on Brain Electrical Activity, Heart Rate Variability, and Dual-Task Performance in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effect of different types of exercise in fibromyalgia syndrome: a network meta-analysis.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Role of Exercise in Fibromyalgia Management: A Narrative Review of Mechanisms, Modalities, and Clinical Evidence.Cureus · 2026Review
- A randomised, double-blind, sham-controlled, 2×2 factorial trial of aerobic vs. non-aerobic exercise and motor cortex transcranial direct current stimulation in fibromyalgia: effects on clinical outcomes and descending pain modulation.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- If exercise is medicine, where is the dose? A call to improve reporting and monitoring of exercise interventions in fibromyalgia research.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Divergent intestinal barrier and neuroimmune responses to supervised exercise across fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and their comorbidity phenotypes: a prospective interventional study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Cognitive profiling in fibromyalgia patients using the MoCA.Irish journal of medical science · 2025Article
- Fibromyalgia: do I tackle you with complementary medicines?Pain reports · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveFibromyalgia is a condition characterised by disabling levels of pain of varying intensity. Aerobic exercise may play a role in reducing pain in these patients. The aim of this review is to assess the dose of aerobic exercise needed, based on the frequency, intensity, type, time, volume and progression (FITT-VP) model, to obtain clinically relevant reductions in pain. DATABASES AND DATA TREATMENT: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials was conducted in the Web of Science (WoS), PEDro, PubMed and Scopus databases, the search having been conducted between July and October of 2023. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias assessment tool 2.
resultsSeventeen studies were included. The risk of bias varied, with six studies showing low risk; five, some concerns; and six, high risk. Aerobic exercise interventions were analysed using the FITT-VP model. Frequency ranged from 1 to 10 times per week, intensity varied from light to vigorous, and the types of exercise included music-based exercise, interval training, pool-based exercise, stationary cycling, swimming and walking. The intervention durations ranged from 3 to 24 weeks, with session lengths ranging from 10 to 45 min. Most of the studies presented significant differences, favouring aerobic exercise (MD -0.49; CI [-0.90, -0.08; p = 0.02]), with moderate to low heterogeneity in subgroup analyses.
conclusionsThe study findings underscore the efficacy of aerobic exercise in alleviating pain among fibromyalgia patients, advocating for tailored exercise dosing to optimise adherence and outcomes. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Individuals with fibromyalgia should engage in aerobic exercises two to three times weekly, for twenty-five to forty minutes in each session, aiming for more than a hundred minutes per week. They should start at low intensity, gradually increasing to higher intensities over six to twelve weeks, for optimal pain management. Exercise types should be selected in collaboration with the patient and based on personal preferences and accessibility, such as walking, and swimming, to ensure long-term adherence to the regimen.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.