| Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain disorder that affects both cognitive and physical functioning. It is a salient issue for older adults, as larger proportions of them will be diagnosed as they age. Cognitive and physical performance as well as a symptom battery in older adults with and without FM were assessed over a four year period using three time points (T1, T2, T3), measured every two years. Measures of cognitive function included tests for the following abilities: orientation, concentration, attention/executive function performance, working memory, psychomotor speed, set-shifting/complex sequencing, verbal fluency, problem solving and cognitive competence. Physical performance tests measured balance, agility, and functional mobility. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Kenward-Rogers (1997) adjustment of the degrees of freedom and a stringent p-value of 0.01 was used to assess mean changes over time. It was expected that FM older adults would perform worse on all measures than their healthy counterparts, controlling for age, education, and body mass index (BMI). There were distinct group differences in physical performance and symptoms; however, the cognitive assessments showed sporadic evidence of group differences. While both groups were anticipated to decline T1 to T2, T2 to T3, and T1 to T3 on the cognitive and physical measures with FM older adults declining at a faster rate, there was inconclusive evidence of change over time for either group. |
