Impact of cognitive behavioral therapy on attention in patients with fibromyalgia
Embargo Date
2026-02-28
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
More than three-fourths of fibromyalgia patients complain of cognitive difficulties, memory, and attention problems that often lead to major life impacts including impaired job performance and disability. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is efficacious in treating people with attention deficits, depression, anxiety, and chronic pain (e.g., fibromyalgia). In the current study, we examined the efficacy of CBT in treating attention deficits in patients with fibromyalgia. Participants were randomly assigned into a CBT intervention or an education control, and completed computer attention tasks and surveys at baseline (prior to receiving treatment) and at the follow up (after receiving 8 treatment sessions). We hypothesized that CBT would lead to greater improvement in attention compared to pain education. A repeated measures Analysis of Variance (RM-ANOVA) examined the effects of both treatments in general on outcomes (time effects) and whether the CBT group led to better outcomes (timeXcondition effects) for attention span, attentional switching, and divided attention. Results indicated an effect of time such that patients in both groups improved from baseline to follow up. However, the time by condition interaction was not significant (ps>0.05), indicating that the two groups did not differ in change in attention performance from baseline to follow-up. Our results did not support the hypothesis that CBT would result in greater attentional improvement. Our results support practice effects for the attentional tasks which suggest that completing tasks that engage attentional processes could serve as a potential intervention for attentional deficits observed in fibromyalgia.