Mediating effect of self-efficacy on relationship between kinesiophobia and physical activity among female elderly osteoporosis patients

  Objective  To explore correlations between kinesiophobia, chronic pain self-efficacy and physical activity among female elderly osteoporosis patients and to analyze the mediating effect of chronic pain self-efficacy.

  Methods  Using convenient sampling, we conducted an anonymous questionnaire survey among 600 female osteoporosis patients aged 60 years and above in four tertiary grade A hospitals in Dalian and Jinzhou city from December 2017 to May 2018. Chronic Pain Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSS), Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and Physical Activity Scale for Elderly (PASE) were adopted in the study. Data analyses were performed with SPSS 21.0 and AMOS21.0.

  Results  There was a significant positive correlation between the score of CPSS and PASE (r = 0.317, P = 0.000). The score of TSK was inversely correlated significantly with the scores of PASE (r = – 0.251, P = 0.000) and CPSS (r = – 0.311, P = 0.000). Chronic pain self-efficacy played a partial mediation effect on the correlation between kinesophobia and physical activity, with the following parameters for the established structural equation model: minimum chi-square value /degree of freedom (CMIN/DF) = 4.510, goodness-of-fit index (GFI = 0.957), adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) = 0.920, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.077, and effect ratio = 32.2%.

  Conclusion  Improving chronic pain self-efficacy and preventing kinesophobia are potential intervention measures for promoting physical activity among female elderly osteoporosis patients.