95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2025.1457474
The Effect of Kinesiophobia on Gastrointestinal Disorders in Patients with Lower
Provisionally accepted- 1 Bayburt University, Bayburt, Bayburt, Türkiye
- 2 Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Türkiye
- 3 Malatya Turgut Özal University, Malatya, Türkiye
- 4 Kahramanmaras Sütçü Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Kahramanmaras, Türkiye
Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of kinesiophobia on GI disorders after lower extremity orthopedic surgery.Method: This study was conducted with a descriptive and cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of a total of n=299 patients who underwent orthopedic surgery in their lower extremities at the orthopedics and traumatology clinic of a research and training hospital located in Turkey. The sample was selected from patients who had lower extremity surgery, were over 18 years of age, had no comorbid diseases, and were between the 2nd and 4th postoperative days. A personal information form, the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK), and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) were used to collect data, and the obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), paired-samples t-test, and post hoc tests when necessary. Results: While 24.4% of the patients were aged 65-74 years, 51.5% were male. The mean total TSK score of the patients was above average, while their mean total GSRS score was below average.. In our study, as kinesiophobia increased, the frequency of bowel movements decreased, and kinesiophobia explained 19.9% of the variance in GI disorders (p<0.05).Conclusions: Kinesiophobia is a significant predictor of GI disorders in patients. Returning to normal GI function after surgery is crucial for preventing complications in patients. Uncontrolled kinesiophobia after surgery exacerbates GI disorders. Early diagnosis and management of both kinesiophobia and GI disorders are necessary for rapid recovery in patients with lower extremity surgery.
Keywords: Fear of moving, gastrointestinal disorders, GI symptoms, Kinesiophobia, Lower Extremity, orthopedic surgery, Postoperative Care
Received: 30 Jun 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gunes, Bulbuloglu, Saritas and Ozdemir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Semra Bulbuloglu, Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Türkiye
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.