A study worth paying attention to this Fibromyalgia Day – May 12, 2026
If you work with people living with fibromyalgia, there’s a paper published last week worth checking out. Mayte Serrat, Lorimer Moseley and colleagues followed more than 300 people with fibromyalgia through a three-month multidisciplinary program that combined movement, psychology, mindfulness, and pain education.
Participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups: a two-hour video on contemporary pain science, a set of written fact sheets covering similar information, or no education at all. Pain knowledge was then measured on the PACKA, a questionnaire scored from −26 to +26 (higher scores = beliefs and attitudes aligned with contemporary understandings of pain). The no-education group averaged a score of around 6. The two education groups averaged 11 to 12. Even this brief exposure looks to shift understanding meaningfully.
The findings
And so what did we see? People who entered the program with a stronger understanding of pain finished it with less fear of movement, even after accounting for where they started.
But it is important to consider what this study can tell us. The design doesn’t allow us to determine causation. The positive finding showed up specifically for kinesiophobia. It did not reach significance for fibromyalgia impact, anxiety, or depression. Physical functioning trended in the same direction but did not reach significance. There are also a few other things to consider. The PACKA is a new instrument, and the sample was largely female, as is typical in fibromyalgia research.
So, the paper does not tell us that ‘understanding pain’ caused the change. What it may suggest is how a person makes sense of pain may shape how they engage with rehabilitation and the process of recovery.
The bigger questions
That fits with much of what we already think about pain. Humans interpret, predict, learn, and adapt. Movement or activities that feel less threatening are things we are more willing to explore. Understanding may be one part of building enough safety that the ‘Sweet Zone‘ of challenge becomes a place a person is willing to enter.
It also raises a more practical question.
We often think about pain education as something that happens once someone is already struggling. Once pain has become persistent. Once fear, avoidance, frustration, and uncertainty are already deeply embedded.
But what happens if people encounter some of these ideas earlier? Not as a way to ‘prevent’ pain in a simplistic sense, but perhaps as a way of building a broader understanding of how humans adapt, protect, and respond to challenge.
Could earlier exposure to contemporary pain concepts change how someone interprets a flare-up, injury, or painful experience later in life?
Could it reduce the likelihood that pain automatically becomes associated with damage, fragility, or the need for complete avoidance?
We can speculate, but it is an interesting possibility.
Perhaps helping people develop more flexible understandings of pain before they face a persistent-pain-inducing challenge may influence how they engage with recovery if and when those challenges arise.
Worth a read this fibromyalgia day.
– Brendan Mouatt
Chief Executive Officer, Noigroup
BSc. MSc, MRes, AEP
Reference
Serrat M, Albajes K, Feliu-Soler A, Moix J, Almirall M, Reezigt RR, Moseley GL. Pain knowledge at treatment entry and post-treatment kinesiophobia in patients with fibromyalgia: a longitudinal study. Musculoskeletal Science and Practice. 2026;84:103571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2026.103571
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