Abstract:

Objective To conduct a scoping review of the prevalence, assessment toolss, influencing factors, and interventions for kinesiophobia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to provide evidence and direction for clinical practice and future research. Methods We performed a scoping review using both controlled vocabulary and free-text terms to systematically search China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Scopus from database inception through January 25, 2025. Two reviewers independently screened, extracted, classified, and analyzed the literature. Results Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Reported prevalence of kinesiophobia among RA patients ranged from 44.97% to 77.40%, indicating a generally high burden. A variety of assessment instruments were used, but few were RA-specific; the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia was the most commonly applied tool. Identified influencing factors included sociodemographic variables, disease-specific factors, and psychosocial elements. Interventions reported in the literature comprised exercise programs, balneotherapy (sand therapy), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Conclusion Kinesiophobia is common among patients with RA and is influenced by a combination of sociodemographic, disease-related, and psychosocial factors. Existing assessment tools lack specificity for RA, highlighting the need to develop and validate localized, disease-specific instruments. Incorporating advanced methods such as machine learning and artificial intelligence could facilitate development of predictive tools for early identification of kinesiophobia. Interventions, primarily CBT, balneotherapy, and exercise, have been applied mainly in hospital and home settings; future work should explore community-based and internet-delivered approaches to broaden access and improve implementation.

Key words: arthritis, rheumatoid, kinesiophobia, fear of movement, scoping review