Proprioception in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review

Abstract

Aims: Several researchers have evaluated proprioception in fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and analyzed the differences with healthy controls. However, the level of evidence these studies have yielded has yet to be critically assessed. The purpose of our systematic review was to investigate the published evidence for impairments in proprioception in people with FM and CFS and analyze differences with healthy controls.

Methods: Relevant studies were searched within PubMed, MEDLINE and Web of Science. Eligible trials included case-control studies that compared a defined construct of proprioception between objectively diagnosed patients with FM or CFS and healthy controls. The risk of bias of the included studies was checked using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Case Control Studies. Certainty of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach.

Results: Eight studies (N = 798 participants) met the criteria. Proprioception was evaluated based on the participant’s performance in estimating static position in space using lower body (n = 3), upper body- (n = 2) or trunk- and cervical related (n = 3) repositioning tasks. Studies consistently reported greater trunk and cervical repositioning errors in women with FM compared to healthy controls (P = < .005).

Conclusions: FM patients showed impairments in trunk- and cervical related proprioception, but not in lower- or upper limb reposition sense. Although the certainty of the evidence was low, evidence suggests trunk-related impairments may be relevant to the frequently reported postural imbalances in this population.