Prevalence of Kinesiophobia in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients often exhibit low adherence to physical activity, potentially influenced by kinesiophobia. While kinesiophobia has been extensively studied in musculoskeletal and cardiovascular populations, its prevalence and patterns in IBD patients remain underexplored. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and distribution patterns of kinesiophobia in patients with IBD and identify factors associated with different kinesiophobia profiles.

This cross-sectional study recruited 222 IBD patients from a tertiary care hospital in China between January 2023 and September 2024. Kinesiophobia was assessed using the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia-11 (TSK-11). Latent profile analysis was conducted to identify kinesiophobia subgroups, with additional assessments of disease activity, self-management behavior, self-efficacy, and fatigue. Multinomial logistic regression identified factors associated with profile membership.

Among 222 IBD patients, 27.5% exhibited moderate-to-high kinesiophobia (TSK-11 ≥29). Latent profile analysis identified three distinct groups: Low-level Kinesiophobia-Cognitive Adaptation (51.4%), Medium-level Kinesiophobia-Somatic Symptom (28.8%), and High-level Kinesiophobia-Comprehensive Distress (19.8%). Complication presence was associated with both medium-level (OR=6.22, 95% CI: 2.63-14.69) and high-level profile membership (OR=4.82, 95% CI: 1.37-16.98), while disease remission showed protective effects against elevated kinesiophobia (OR=0.15 and 0.06 for medium- and high-level profiles, respectively). Fatigue severity emerged as a strong predictor of both medium- (OR=1.45, 95% CI: 1.21-1.73) and high-level profiles (OR=2.40, 95% CI: 1.81-3.18). Enhanced self-management capacity demonstrated protective effects against high-level profile (OR=0.92, 95% CI: 0.86-0.98).

This study revealed that 27.5% of IBD patients exhibited moderate-to-high kinesiophobia and identified three distinct profiles. Disease remission was a protective factor, while complications and fatigue severity were associated with elevated kinesiophobia. Routine kinesiophobia screening and profile-based interventions should be integrated into IBD care to improve physical activity engagement.