Efficacy of Whole-Body Vibration Training in Women with Fibromyalgia, 2021, Ribeiro et al

Efficacy of Whole-Body Vibration Training on Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Clinical and Functional Outcomes, and Quality of Life in Women with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of whole-body vibration training (WBVT) on blood brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and determine the clinical and functional outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Thirty-two women with FMS were randomized into an intervention group (IG), receiving 6 weeks of WBVT, or a control group (CG) with no intervention. The outcomes at the baseline and follow-up in both groups included blood BDNF levels, sit-to-stand test (STS), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and visual analogue scale (VAS). WBVT resulted in a group-by-time interaction effect. Thus, after the intervention time, the IG had increased blood BDNF levels (), a higher number of repetitions on the STS test (), and increased walking distance on the 6MWT (), compared to CG. Moreover, there was a reduction in the scores of the FIQ (), the PSQI (), the BDI (), and pain assessed using VAS () in IG. The results demonstrate that WBVT promotes an increase in blood BDNF levels, with concomitant improvement in lower limb muscle strength, aerobic capacity, clinical symptoms, and quality of life in women with FMS.

Open access
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jhe/2021/7593802/

 

The first thing that crossed my mind when I read the title was this :

Vibration white finger

Nothing would induce me to risk this condition - it is disabling and excruciating.

 

I would want to see another treatment group that did the exercises without the vibration plate. The control and treatment group where markedly different for antidepressant and analgesic use.

 

Looking at some notes I have relating to the PACE trial re 6mwt, one study:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17136972/

suggests that 54-80m was the minimally clinically important difference, and about 86m was needed at individual patient level to be statistically confident of change.

The mean distance walked post intervention in this study was 470.35m, an increase of 23m. The control group distance dropped by 12m.

Some figures for other populations (sorry, haven't got references to hand):

490m relatively healthy women age 70-79
461m people with pacemakers
558m Class II heart failure patients
625m people with Cystic Fibrosis
450m lower limit of normal for a 60 year old man.