Table 3.
Differences in physiological variables between fibromyalgia syndrome patients and healthy controls
| Phase | FMS (N = 90) | HC (N = 30) | p value | ||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | ||
| EMG | |||||
| Baseline | 8.97 | (4.75) | 14.52 | (5.12) | <0.001 |
| Relax 1 | 8.77 | (4.83) | 15.83 | (5.23) | <0.001 |
| Mental arithmetic | 10.44 | (5.89) | 17.10 | (9.07) | <0.001 |
| Relax 2 | 8.91 | (4.91) | 17.60 | (9.44) | <0.001 |
| Social conflict | 9.59 | (5.59) | 17.04 | (8.92) | <0.001 |
| Relax 3 | 9.63 | (6.33) | 18.50 | (10.51) | <0.001 |
| SCL | |||||
| Baseline | 1.81 | (1.70) | 1.65 | (0.64) | ns |
| Relax 1 | 1.89 | (1.78) | 1.59 | (0.62) | ns |
| Mental arithmetic | 2.81 | (2.65) | 1.92 | (0.74) | <0.005 |
| Relax 2 | 2.31 | (2.01) | 1.76 | (0.69) | ns |
| Social conflict | 2.76 | (2.11) | 1.79 | (0.72) | <0.005 |
| Relax 3 | 2.41 | (2.15) | 1.69 | (0.71) | ns |
| HR | |||||
| Baseline | 77.07 | (11.22) | 68.56 | (22.49) | ns |
| Relax 1 | 75.45 | (10.54) | 65.68 | (21.11) | <0.005 |
| Mental arithmetic | 78.32 | (13.64) | 75.85 | (24.72) | ns |
| Relax 2 | 73.36 | (10.86) | 66.47 | (19.55) | ns |
| Social conflict | 77.88 | (10.64) | 66.85 | (20.88) | ns |
| Relax 3 | 73.96 | (9.59) | 62.79 | (18.11) | <0.005 |
| SBP | |||||
| Baseline | 133.5 | (19.03) | 132.9 | (13.40) | ns |
| Relax 1 | 131.4 | (16.65) | 130.4 | (11.58) | ns |
| Mental arithmetic | 141.7 | (19.52) | 140.8 | (14.35) | ns |
| Relax 2 | 128.1 | (13.20) | 124.9 | (21.00) | ns |
| Social conflict | 146.5 | (15.09) | 139.7 | (18.29) | ns |
| Relax 3 | 135.6 | (14.31) | 131.9 | (23.38) | ns |
| DBP | |||||
| Baseline | 78.43 | (13.89) | 77.10 | (8.83) | ns |
| Relax 1 | 76.23 | (8.27) | 76.24 | (7.79) | ns |
| Mental arithmetic | 81.11 | (10.80) | 82.51 | (10.83) | ns |
| Relax 2 | 76.82 | (14.54) | 73.37 | (7.61) | ns |
| Social conflict | 85.81 | (9.33) | 83.74 | (10.29) | ns |
| Relax 3 | 77.57 | (7.75) | 78.04 | (9.60) | ns |
DBP, diastolic blood pressure; EMG, electromyographic activity; FMS, fibromyalgia syndrome; HC, healthy controls; HR, heart rate; ns, not significant; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SCL, skin conductance level.