Abstract:
Background: Kinesiophobia is an extreme, irrational, and catastrophic fear of physical activity due to patient's overwhelming concerns and sense of vulnerability about cardiac failure and other adverse consequences after exercise, such as cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. It is a major contributor to patients' poor functional outcomes, inactivity, psychological effects, and double financial load. Fortunately, there was a lack of information regarding its prevalence among cardiac disease patients, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the prevalence of kinesiophobia and its associated factors among patients with cardiac disease attending cardiac units at hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2024. Method: An institutional based multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with cardiac disease in Addis Ababa in July and August 2024. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select those 405 study participants. The data was collected by face-to-face interviews by trained nurses. To assess kinesiophobia, pretested tamp scale kinesiophobia-heart questionnaire was used. The collected data was analyzed on SPSS Version 25. Bivariate analysis was used to determine potential candidate variables with a P-value < 0.25 for the final multivariable logistic regression analyses. Finally, an adjusted odds ratio with a P value <0.05 and 95% confidence interval was considered statistically significant.
Result: The overall prevalence of kinesiophobia was 67.4% (95% CI, 62.6-72). An older age group (AOR =3.84; 95 CI=1.663-8.864), cardiac function classification class II (AOR =2.639; 95 CI=1.090-6.388), class III (AOR =5.646; 95 CI=2.299-13.868), class IV (AOR =9.229; 95 CI=3.026-28.142), being physically inactive (AOR = 2.642; 95% CI = 1.490-4.685), being anxious (AOR = 2.730; 95% CI = 1.487-5.011), and moderate (AOR =2.172; 95 CI=1.0634.437) and high threat (AOR =6.146; 95 CI=2.955-12.786) illness perception were significantly associated with kinesiophobia among patients with cardiac disease. Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of kinesiophobia among patients with cardiac disease is high. Being old age or above 50 years, low cardiac function, physical inactivity, anxiety, and higher threat illness perceptions were significantly associated with kinesiophobia among patients with cardiac disease. Therefore, this study recommends that all concerned bodies should pay attention to kinesiophobia and its risk factors in clinical practice
