• Isabela Paula Mundim Martins, Pedro Henrique Kopp Bodenmuller, Daniel Bozza de Oliveira Mello, and Thelma Larocca Skare.
• Faculdade Evangélica Mackenzie do Paraná - Curitiba (PR), Brazil.
• Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2021 Oct 1; 67 (10): 1392-1396.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to analyze the effects of pandemic in the exercising practice and impact of the disease in patients with Fibromyalgia.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional, Internet-based survey answered by 1156 individuals with Fibromyalgia diagnosis. Questions were on epidemiology, social distancing habits, and exercise practice before and after COVID-19 pandemic, including subtypes of exercises (for resistance, flexibility, balance, and strength). The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire was applied.ResultsIn the whole sample, 57.7% of individuals practiced exercises before pandemic; during pandemic, only 34.8% practiced and 39.6% left this practice. Among those taking quarantine (n=440), 52.9% used to do exercises prior to pandemic; in the pandemic, 28.1% (reduction of 53.2%). The median Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire among those who practiced exercises in the pandemic was 73.6 (61.1-83.2) and that among those who did not was 80.4 (71.9-86.9), with p<0.0001. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire did not change according to the type of physical exercise (p=0.27).ConclusionA high proportion of patients with Fibromyalgia stopped exercising during COVID-19 pandemic; as a result, the impact of the disease during this period was worse among those not practicing exercises.

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