ArticlePain and therapy2023
Short-Term Effects of Whole-Body Photobiomodulation on Pain, Quality of Life and Psychological Factors in a Population Suffering from Fibromyalgia: A Triple-Blinded Randomised Clinical Trial.
Article in Pain and therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Photobiomodulation on Metabolic, Inflammatory, and Neurological Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review on whole-body photobiomodulation for exercise performance and recovery.Lasers in medical science · 2025Pooled it
- Photobiomodulation therapy combined with static magnetic field is better than placebo in patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2023Trial
- A Translational Review of Mechanisms of Effectiveness of Photobiomodulation on Somatosensory Neurons and the Peripheral Nervous System-From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Applications in Medicine and Dentistry.Current issues in molecular biology · 2026Review
- Integrating nociplastic pain into neuropathic pain framework: a proposal for a revised classification.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Potential and Challenges of Transcranial Photobiomodulation for the Treatment of Stroke.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Review
- Whole-Body Photobiomodulation Therapy Propels the Fibromyalgia Patient into the Recomposition Phase: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Outcomes of whole-body photobiomodulation on pain, quality of life, leisure physical activity, pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, and self-efficacy: a prospective randomized triple-blinded clinical trial with 6 months of follow-up.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Efficacy of Photobiomodulation Therapy in the Treatment of Pain and Inflammation: A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Mitochondrial dysfunction/hyperfunction inducing excessive mtROS in inflammatory and neuropathic pain.Molecular painReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFibromyalgia (FM) is a multifunctional chronic musculoskeletal pain condition characterised by sensory hypersensitivity. Photobiomodulation (PBM) has shown a positive impact on relieving pain; however, no studies to our knowledge have analysed a whole-body PBM intervention in subjects with FM. The aims of the study were to compare the effects of whole-body PBM with placebo PBM on pain, functionality and psychological symptoms in patients suffering from FM.
methodsForty-two subjects were recruited from a private care practice. The design of the study is a randomised, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Participants received 12 treatment sessions. Pain, quality of life, level of physical activity and psychological factors were assessed at baseline (T0), after session 6 (T1), after treatment (T2) and at 2-week (T3) follow-up.
resultsThere were statistically significant differences in pain at 4 weeks (p ≤ 0.001) (T2) and the 2-week follow-up (T3) (p ≤ 0.001). In relation to the quality of life, there were statistically significant improvements after session 6 (p ≤ 0.001) (T1), immediately after treatment (p ≤ 0.001) (T2) and at the 2-week (T3) follow-up (p ≤ 0.001). Kinesiophobia presented significant differences between groups immediately after treatment (p ≤ 0.001) (T2) and at the 2-week (T3) follow-up (p ≤ 0.001), with self-efficacy only showing significant differences between groups 2 weeks after the treatment (p = 0.01) (T2). There were no differences between groups when comparing pain catastrophising at any time.
conclusionWhole-body PBM resulted in a significant reduction in pain and an improvement in quality of life in those participants suffering from FM after receiving 4 weeks of treatment. Furthermore, psychological factors such as kinesiophobia and self-efficacy were also improved. Thus, a whole-body PBM treatment is presented as a possible new multifactorial treatment with potential benefits for those with FM and more studies are needed to corroborate our findings.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT0424897).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.