The influence of psychological intervention-assisted cardiac rehabilitation on kinesiophobia in individuals diagnosed with coronary heart disease.

OBJECTIVE

Kinesiophobia is prevalent among patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). This study aimed to explore whether psychologically-informed cardiac rehabilitation (CR) could positively influence the reduction of kinesiophobia in CHD patients.

METHODS

A total of 86 CHD patients, who sought treatment at Bethune International Peace Hospital between June 2022 and June 2023, were selected and divided into two groups: a psychological intervention group comprising 42 patients and a conventional CR group of 44 patients. The conventional CR group received standard CR intervention, whereas the psychological intervention group underwent CR intervention augmented with psychological support. The effectiveness of these interventions was evaluated using the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Multidimensional Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES), the TSK-Heart (for assessing kinesiophobia in cardiac patients), and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) scores.

RESULTS

Following the intervention, the SDS and SAS scores of the psychological intervention group were higher than those of the conventional CR group. The MSES dimension scores and the total score of the psychological intervention group were elevated in comparison to the CR group. Conversely, the TSK-Heart dimension scores and the total score of the psychological intervention group were diminished relative to the CR group. Additionally, the SF-36 dimension scores and total score of the psychological intervention group surpassed those of the CR group post-intervention.

CONCLUSION

The integration of psychologically-supported CR into the rehabilitation regimen for CHD patients effectively mitigates negative emotions, enhances self-efficacy, and markedly reduces kinesiophobia, thus significantly improving overall quality of life.