Effect of kinesophobia on postoperative rehabilitation outcomes of patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Objective There are no studies on postoperative exercise fear in patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). In this cross-sectional survey, we examined the occurrence of exercise fear in early postoperative patients with CSM, along with exploring the influence of related variables on exercise fear.Methods From November 2020 to November 2022, 150 patients diagnosed with CSM underwent surgical treatment in the neurosurgery wards of two Grade-III Class A general public hospitals in Fujian Province. The Tampa Scale of Kinesophobia (TSK) was used to assess the level of exercise fear in these patients and those with > 37 points were considered to have exercise fear. Univariate analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to determine the influence of related factors on kinesophobia in CSM patients.Results A total of 122 patients were included in this study. The average score of fear of movement after surgery was 41.2 ± 4.5, with an incidence of 75.4%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.105, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.014–1.204), neck disability index (NDI) (OR = 1.268, 95% CI = 1.108–1.451), diabetes mellitus (OR = 0.026, 95% CI = 0.001–0.477), and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score (OR = 0.698, 95% CI = 0.526–0.927) were associated with the occurrence of kinesophobia after CSM surgery (P < 0.05).Conclusion The incidence of postoperative exercise fear in CSM patients is high, which may affect their postoperative outcomes and lead to poor postoperative limb function. During postoperative rehabilitation, medical staff must pay attention to the potential occurrence of kinesophobia, and postoperative rehabilitation exercises should be conducted for patients with kinesophobia.