Unveiling kinesiophobia: A hidden challenge in women with lipedema

BackgroundTo evaluate kinesiophobia and its relationship with disease-related characteristics and quality of life in lipedema patients.MethodsIn this descriptive case-control study, 40 lipedema patients and 40 participants in the control group were included. All participants were evaluated in terms of body mass index (BMI), pain numeric rating scale (NRS) and pain threshold (PT) scores, kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia - TSK), lower extremity functional scores (Lower Extremity Functional Scale - LEFS), and health-related quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile - NHP) scores. Additionally, the lipedema patients were evaluated in terms of extremity volumes, and total and mean lower extremity fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.ResultsHigh kinesiophobia was detected in 78% of the lipedema patients and 55% of the control group (<i>p</i> = .033). TSK (<i>p</i> = .048), NRS (<i>p</i> = .001), and NHP total scores (<i>p</i> = .041) were higher and PT scores (<i>p</i> = .007) were lower in lipedema patients compared to the control group. No difference was found between lipedema patients with high and low kinesiophobia in terms of fat mass or extremity volumes. A positive correlation was found between TSK score, NHP total score (r = 0.356, <i>p</i> = .024), NHP physical activity (ρ = 0.403, <i>p</i> = .010) and NHP energy (ρ = 0.436, <i>p</i> = .005) subscale scores<b>.</b>ConclusionKinesiophobia is highly prevalent in lipedema patients, regardless of disease-related data and affecting the quality of life of the patients, negatively.