Influence of social support on kinesiophobia in patients with primary liver cancer after interventional therapy

This study explored the factors associated with the occurrence of kinesiophobia in patients with primary liver cancer after interventional therapy, analyzed the correlations between the occurrence of kinesiophobia in patients with social support, psychological resilience, and rehabilitation self-efficacy, and conducted path analysis. This study adopts a parallel mediation model. A total of 209 patients with primary liver cancer who received interventional therapy in the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University were recruited as research objects. The general data questionnaire, Self-Efficacy for Rehabilitation Outcome Scale (SER), Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS), and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) were used to conduct a cross-sectional investigation. Rank sum test and multiple linear regression statistical analysis were performed on the data, and model 4 of Hayes’ SPSS Process program was used to assess the intermediary effect. A total of 105 patients (50.2%) in the study population suffered from kinesiophobia. Age, liver cirrhosis, and severe anemia were the covariates associated with kinesiophobia. Correlation analysis revealed that patients’ social support was positively correlated with resilience scores and rehabilitation self-efficacy scores, and negatively correlated with kinesiophobia. Bootstrap mediation pathway analysis demonstrated that the total association magnitude between social support and kinesiophobia in patients with liver cancer after interventional therapy was − 0.524. Rehabilitation self-efficacy and psychological resilience showed a partial mediating association between social support and kinesiophobia, accounting for 18.5% and 5.2% of the total associated pathway proportion respectively. The observed chain association pathway indicates a direct relevant association between social support and kinesiophobia, with psychological resilience and rehabilitation self-efficacy showing a partial mediating association pathway between social support and kinesiophobia. Therefore, targeted strategies for managing kinesiophobia in patients with liver cancer after interventional therapy can be considered by optimizing patients’ social support status and promoting their psychological resilience and rehabilitation self-efficacy.