TITLE:
Pain and Fatigue Perceptions of Patients with Systemic Autoimmune Myopathies before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period
AUTHORS:
Rafael Giovani Missé, Isabela Bruna Pires Borges, Bruna Lindoso Correia, Lorenza Rosa Silvério da Silva, Marlise Sítima Mendes Simões, Alexandre Moura dos Santos, Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19 Pandemic, Fatigue, Inflammatory Myopathies, Myositis, Physical Activity
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases,
Vol.12 No.4,
October
18,
2022
ABSTRACT: Objective: To assess general pain and fatigue and their association
with the disease status of patients with systemic autoimmune myopathies (SAMs),
in terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these parameters. Methods: This
is a cross-sectional and prospective cohort study that included 72 patients
with SAMs who were matched by age and gender with 67 healthy individuals.
The patients engaged in an interview via a validity survey to measure disease
status, and assess a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and fatigue in two
periods: before (phase I) and during (phase II) of the Brazilian COVID-19
pandemic. For cross-sectional analysis, patients’ data from phase I were
compared to healthy individuals’ information, whereas for prospective analysis,
data of the patients who were assessed in phase II were compared to the same
patients’ data from phase I. Results: The patients had significantly more pain perception, comparable fatigue
perception and fatigue severity, when compared to the healthy individuals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the disease activity, pain and fatigue
perceptions, and fatigue severity remained unchanged. Despite this, the pain
and fatigue perceptions correlated significantly with patients’ VAS, the
patient health outcome, and fatigue severity. In addition, the pain perception
correlated to creatine phosphokinase, whereas fatigue perceptions correlated to
physicians' VAS. Conclusions: The study showed that patients with SAMs have significantly increased pain
perceptions compared to healthy individuals. During the COVID-19 pandemic
period, the pain and fatigue perceptions remained unchanged in patients with
SAMs but they correlated to several disease status parameters.