Abstract:

The current study aimed to evaluate the role of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on pain, anxiety, alexithymia, depression and functional status in female patients with Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Twenty female patients with FMS after the evaluation with socidemographic and clinic data form, who attended 12 CBT sessions (40 minutes) regularly, were included in the study. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for depression severity, Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) for alexithymia level, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) for anxiety level, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain severity and the Fibromiyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) for functional status, tests were administered pre and post CBT. FMS patients with the mean age 48.7±10.2 years, had statistically significant difference between pre CBT and post CBT in terms of BDI (p=0.000), VAS (p=0.000), and BAI (p=0.001) scores. Pre and post CBT scale scores were also statistically significant in terms of FIQ and TAS subgroups (p<0.05). The results of the current study, indicating that CBT might make statistically significant difference on pain, anxiety, depression, alexithymia levels and functional status in patients with FMS may have implications for the choice of treatment and course of FMS.

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