Kinesiophobia and self-management behaviour related to physical activity in Chinese patients with coronary heart disease: The mediating role of self-efficacy.
Siai Zhang, Zhangyi Wang, Xinyu Lin and 5 others
PMID 35773943WHAT IT FOUND
Among 509 Chinese patients with coronary heart disease, greater fear of movement was associated with lower physical activity self-management, and confidence was lower with more fear and higher with better self-management.
This is association, not proof that targeting fear improves activity.
Key findings
0143.8% of participants were at a low level of self-management behaviour related to physical activity.
02Kinesiophobia was negatively correlated with self-efficacy and with self-management behaviour, and self-efficacy was positively correlated with self-management behaviour.
03The mediation analysis reported an indirect effect of kinesiophobia on self-management behaviour through self-efficacy. This indirect effect accounted for 35.59% of the total effect.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that kinesiophobia caused lower self-management or that self-efficacy caused change. Data came from one cardiovascular department in Tianjin using convenient sampling, so it may not apply to other hospitals or countries. People with NYHA Class IV, exercise contraindications, cognitive impairment, mental illness, or severe activity limitation were excluded, so it says little about those patients. Only 5.7% had received cardiac rehabilitation training, so the comparison with those who had not rests on a small group. The authors state the limited representativeness of the sample may affect reliability.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The article is tagged as supported by non-U.S. government research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 35.59% indirect effect as proof that reducing fear of movement will increase physical activity. The study is cross-sectional, so it shows associations, not that a fear-reduction intervention would work.