Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the subjective muscle skeleton complaints of patients with fibromyalgia have an objective basis and the usability of muscle test results for diagnosis of fibromyalgia. 20 patients having primer fibromyalgia syndromes (PFS) who conforms to the criteria suggested by the American Rheumatism Association and a control group of 20 healthy people performed isokinetic muscle test over the right quadriceps and hamstring muscle group by Cybex 6000. In this study, maximum torque (MT), the ratio of maximum torque over body weight (MTWA), torque acceleration energy (TAE), total work (TW), set total work (STW), average power (AP) and endurance ratio (ER) were measured for muscle performance. A significant difference was found between the tests showing the muscle performance between the patients and the control group except the ER parameter. This difference was smaller in patients with fibromyalgia. As a result, it is decided that the objective low values in the muscle tests which are observed in patients with fibromyalgia are significant and isokinetic quantitative muscle test is a quite reliable method which can assist the doctor for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. There exists a connection between the general fatigue and pain complaints of the patients with PFS and muscle deficiency. This muscle deficiency can be measured numerically by objective isokinetic methods. We argue that these measures should be utilized in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients.

Key words: Isokinetic testing, fibromyalgia, muscle