Land- and water-based exercise intervention in women with fibromyalgia: the al-andalus physical activity randomised controlled trial Carbonell-Baeza, Ana Ruiz Ruiz, Jonatan Aparicio García-Molina, Virginia Ortega Porcel, Francisco Bartolomé Mungía-Izquierdo, D. Álvarez-Gallardo, Inmaculada C. Segura Jiménez, Víctor Camiletti-Moirón, Daniel Romero, A. Estévez-López, Fernando Samos, B. Casimiro Andújar, Antonio J. Sierra, A. Latorre-Román, Pedro Ángel Pulido-Martos, M. Femia Marzo, Pedro Jesús Pérez-López, I. C. Chillón Garzón, Palma Girela Rejón, María José Tercedor Sánchez, Pablo Lucía, Alejandro Delgado Fernández, Manuel Excersice therapy Female Fibromialgia Health Quality of life Spain Swimming pools Time factors Treatment outcome Background The al-Andalus physical activity intervention study is a randomised control trial to investigate the effectiveness of a land- and water-based exercise intervention for reducing the overall impact of fibromyalgia (primary outcome), and for improving tenderness and pain-related measures, body composition, functional capacity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, fatigue, sleep quality, health-related quality of life, and cognitive function (secondary outcomes) in women with fibromyalgia. Methods/Design One hundred eighty women with fibromyalgia (age range: 35-65 years) will be recruited from local associations of fibromyalgia patients in Andalucía (Southern Spain). Patients will be randomly assigned to a usual care (control) group (n = 60), a water-based exercise intervention group (n = 60) or a land-based exercise intervention group (n = 60). Participants in the usual care group will receive general physical activity guidelines and participants allocated in the intervention groups will attend three non-consecutive training sessions (60 min each) per week during 24 weeks. Both exercise interventions will consist of aerobic, muscular strength and flexibility exercises. We will also study the effect of a detraining period (i.e., 12 weeks with no exercise intervention) on the studied variables. Discussion Our study attempts to reduce the impact of fibromyalgia and improve patients' health status by implementing two types of exercise interventions. Results from this study will help to assess the efficacy of exercise interventions for the treatment of fibromyalgia. If the interventions would be effective, this study will provide low-cost and feasible alternatives for health professionals in the management of fibromyalgia. Results from the al-Andalus physical activity intervention will help to better understand the potential of regular physical activity for improving the well-being of women with fibromyalgia. 2013-10-31T10:34:58Z 2013-10-31T10:34:58Z 2012 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Carbonell Baeza, A.; et al. Land- and water-based exercise intervention in women with fibromyalgia: the al-andalus physical activity randomised controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 13: 18 (2012). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28996] 1471-2474 doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-13-18 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/28996 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Biomed Central