Work ability is influenced by kinesiophobia among patients with persistent pain

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate how kinesiophobia fluctuates in patients over a four weeks multimodal rehabilitation program and to study the relationship between work ability and kinesiophobia. The study included 112 patients (94 women, 18 men). Measurements were made before, directly after, 2 months after, and 12 months after the program. The level of work ability was rated by the patients on a scale from 0% to 100%, and kinesiophobia was measured by the Swedish version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK-SV). Kinesiophobia decreased between the start of the multimodal rehabilitation program and the follow-up periods. Work ability increased over time, but not between baseline and the 2-month follow-up. Decreases in the TSK-SV score between baseline and the 2-month follow-up were related to the increased probability of improved work ability at the 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, a decrease in kinesiophobia seems to be related to increased work ability of patients participating in a 4-week multimodal rehabilitation program.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronic pain
• fear of movement
• physiotherapy
• return to work
• work capacity

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the pain rehabilitation team and colleagues at the Rehabilitation Medicine Clinic in Sandviken, the Centre for Research & Development, Uppsala University/Region Gävleborg, and all of the patients who participated in the study.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.