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Study: Kinesiophobia common among patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis
In a sample of 350 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, about 77% agreed with a minimum of one item on the brief fear of movement scale, according to recently published data.
Kelli D. Allen, PhD, at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues assessed 350 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis who completed the brief fear of movement scale prior to randomization in a clinical trial. Researchers examined relationship of fear of movement with factors such as education, pain and activities of daily living subscales of KOOS, knee symptom duration, depressive symptoms, history of falls and knee injury, family history of knee problems and self-efficacy for exercise. They assessed associations with agreement of one, two or three or more items from the fear of movement scale.
Researchers found 77% of patients agreed with at least one item on the scale. In addition, 36% of patients agreed with three or more items. Moreover, 24.2% of patients were afraid they would hurt themselves if they exercised.
In the multivariate analysis, depressive symptoms were associated with increased fear of movement (ratio = 1.15 per 1-unit increase). Investigators found self-efficacy for exercise (ratio = 0.87 per 10-unit increase), age (ratio = 0.79) and KOOS activities of daily living (ratio = 0.86 per 10-point increase) were associated with a decreased fear of movement. – by Will Offit
Disclosures: The researchers report funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Please see the full study for a list of all other relevant financial disclosures.