The Effect of Psychological Interventions on the Quality of Life in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review.

Fibromyalgia refers to a painful type of rheumatological clinical syndrome, and its prevalence varies from 0.7% to 6.6%. This syndrome is associated with different physical and psychological symptoms, which ultimately leads to a decline in women's quality of life. A wide range of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions are conducted to mitigate these symptoms and improve the quality of life. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of psychological interventions on the quality of life in women with fibromyalgia. This systematic review with comprehensive search was carried out on Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Scientific Information Database (SID), databases using the suitable keywords, and a total of 3125 articles from 2000 to 2019 were retrieved. Finally, the quality of 16 experimental and semi-experimental clinical trials was evaluated using the Jadad scale. The psychological interventions affecting the quality of life in women with fibromialgia included cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavioral therapy, coping strategies training, mindfulness, acceptance and commitment treatment, hypnosis, meditation, music therapy, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and writing emotions. The results of the study showed that except four studies, the studies generally improved the quality of life and reduced the symptoms in women with fibromyalgia. The results of the study suggest that most psychological interventions affect the quality of life in women with fibromyalgia. Therefore, besides pharmacological therapy, psychological interventions can be used by health-care providers to reduce the symptoms of fibromyalgia and improve the quality of their life.