Abstract

Background and Review of Literature: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disease that is characterized by widespread pain and several associated symptoms such as non-restorative sleep, fatigue, poor physical condition, impaired cognition, stiffness, depression, and balance impairment. Most FM patients are taking at least one prescription medication. Less than 50% of FM patients report being somewhat satisfied with their current treatment. This lack of evidence alone expresses the need for more research to support which prescription medications are essential.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to determine whether pregabalin or gabapentin is more effective to manage the symptoms for women with fibromyalgia (FM), who have been using either medication for a minimum of two months, and to determine what factors could contribute to the overall improvement of the quality of life (QOL) for the fibromyalgia patient.

Methods: This exploratory, pilot project involved recruitment of 25 female participants who were currently on pregabalin and gabapentin for their fibromyalgia in three midwestern pain clinics. Implementation Plan/Procedure: Each participant filled out the demographic sheet, FIQR questionnaire and SF-36 short survey after their appointment with their health care provider. Time allotted for each participant was 30 minutes. Scoring of data from the questionnaires and surveys was completed by the capstone project manager.

Implications/Conclusions: Judging by trends in the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) and SF- 36 scores, pregabalin may have had a positive impact on quality of life. There was a trend that the pregabalin group had higher functioning score compared to the gabapentin group. However, there was no significant difference between the gabapentin and pregabalin groups on the QOL instruments, using independent t tests and a Mann Whitney U test. Factors that were found to be significantly associated with the overall quality of life were age and the number of hours of work. Regarding further evidence, there needs to be more studies with more participants to look at treatment options such as pregabalin and gabapentin for patients with fibromyalgia.

Author Details

Jeanette Kennedy, DNP

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Lead Author Affiliation

Nebraska Methodist College, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Pilot/Exploratory Study

Keywords:

Fibromyalgia, Pregabalin, Gabapentin

Advisor

Hughes, Linda Carol

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nebraska Methodist College

Degree Year

2019

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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Review Type

Faculty Approved: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

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