Exercise self-efficacy in young and middle-aged patients with Crohn’s disease: Latent profile analysis and influencing factors

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify latent categories of exercise self-efficacy among young and middle-aged patients with Crohn's disease and to analyze the factors associated with these profiles. A total of 332 young and middle-aged patients with Crohn's disease were recruited for the study at a hospital in China. Latent profile analysis revealed three distinct categories of exercise self-efficacy: the low efficacy group (19.9%), the moderate efficacy group (49.1%), and the high efficacy group (31.0%). Significant predictors of the latent categories of exercise self-efficacy included occupation, disease duration, self-reported economic pressure, family support level, and illness perception. Healthcare providers should implement tailored promotion strategies that align with the specific exercise self-efficacy profiles of these patients to enhance their intrinsic motivation for exercise training and improve their exercise efficacy levels.