Objectives: 

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common chronic pain condition in the population (2–4%), which is often associated with prominent negative consequences for the participation in daily activities. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the kinematic and kinetic parameters of gait, functional performance and balance in women with fibromyalgia syndrome.

Materials: 

The study included 17 women diagnosed with FM (48.1 ± 7.3 yrs) according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, as well as 17 healthy women (43.2 ± 8.3 yrs). Objective measures of gait and balance were collected through video recordings of participants performing several motor tasks and analyzed by using an open-source computer vision software (CVMob). In addition, subjective measures of motor function and clinical pain were also obtained by using self-report questionnaires

Results: 

Gait during stable walking was severely altered in FM patients: walking speed was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) as a result of reductions in stride length (p < 0.001) and cycle frequency (p < 0.001). Data from Romberg's test, used to assess balance characteristics, indicated significant differences (p < 0.01) between FM and healthy controls in both, frontal and sagittal planes.

Conclusions: 

The current study showed that chronic pain leads to relevant impairments in gait and balance in fibromyalgia. Moreover, it demonstrated that a low-cost methodology based on video analysis could be a reliable tool for gait and balance evaluation, as well as for optimal balance rehabilitation and fall prevention in clinical settings.