Kinesiophobia in patients with angina pectoris of coronary artery disease: A cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND

In the field of chronic pain research, kinesiophobia is defined as avoidance behavior due to fear of pain, but this perspective seems to be neglected in the field of coronary artery disease (CAD).

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the status quo of angina pectoris (AP) and kinesiophobia and factors associated with kinesiophobia in patients with AP of CAD.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited by convenience sampling, and patients with AP of CAD in four wards of the Cardiology Department of a hospital were enrolled in this study. Participants completed questionnaires and scales face-to-face with researchers.

RESULTS

Most patients with AP of CAD suffered from at least moderate pain episodes (60.2%) of at least 5 minutes per episode (53.8%), but less than 1/3 of patients reached 5 instances of pain per week (29.1%). The total score of kinesiophobia in patients was 40.80±6.65, and the vast majority of patients had moderate to high levels of kinesiophobia (75.7%). The results of multiple linear stepwise regression analysis showed that personal monthly income, New York Heart Function Assessment (NYHA) classification, pain intensity, and pain resilience were independent factors associated with kinesiophobia, and these factors explained 30.2% of the variation in total scores of kinesiophobia.

CONCLUSION

The symptoms of AP were prominent in terms of pain intensity and duration of pain. The level of kinesiophobia was moderate, and this was affected by multiple factors. Health care providers and researchers seldom pay attention to the kinesiophobia of patients with AP of CAD. This study refocused on the effect of "fear of pain" in kinesiophobia in patients with CAD. It opens up new horizons for the application of fear-avoidance models in CAD patients and helps to raise awareness of kinesiophobia in AP patients with CAD and provides guidance for reducing the level of kinesiophobia in the future.