Impact of motor anxiety on rehabilitation in elderly stroke patients: A retrospective study

doi:10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.111050

Advanced Search

BPG is committed to discovery and dissemination of knowledge

Home / Archive / Volume 16, Issue 2

This Article

Academic Content and Language Evaluation of This Article

CrossCheck and Google Search of This Article

Academic Rules and Norms of This Article

Citation of this article

Corresponding Author of This Article

Research Domain of This Article

Article-Type of This Article

Open-Access Policy of This Article

Times Cited Counts in Google of This Article

Number of Hits and Downloads for This Article

Total Article Views (17)

All Articles published online

The chart showing PDF series, HTML series, Figures (1-4) series, Tables (1-6) series.

Item

Count

PDF

HTML

Figures (1-4)

Tables (1-6)

Sum=1

Publishing Process of This Article

The chart showing Browse series, Download series.

Item

Count

Browse

Download

Sum=22

Feb 19, 2026 (publication date) through Feb 2, 2026

Times Cited of This Article

Times Cited (0)

Journal Information of This Article

Publication Name

World Journal of Psychiatry

ISSN

2220-3206

Publisher of This Article

Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Retrospective Study

World J Psychiatry. Feb 19, 2026; 16(2): 111050
Published online Feb 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.111050

Impact of motor anxiety on rehabilitation in elderly stroke patients: A retrospective study

Yu-Bo Yang, Lu-Ping Tang, Chong-Yang Yu, Chao-Lang Fu, Jia-Ping Yang

Yu-Bo Yang, Lu-Ping Tang, Jia-Ping Yang, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ningbo Mingzhou Hospital, The Mingzhou Hospital of Zhejiang University, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China

Chong-Yang Yu, Chao-Lang Fu, Department of Psychology, Ningbo Mingzhou Hospital, The Mingzhou Hospital of Zhejiang University, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China

Co-first authors: Yu-Bo Yang and Lu-Ping Tang.

Co-corresponding authors: Chao-Lang Fu and Jia-Ping Yang.

Author contributions: Yang YB and Tang L designed the research study and analysed the data, and they contributed equally to this manuscript as co-first authors; Yang YB, Tang LP, and Yu CY performed the research and collected data; Fu CL and Yang JP supervised the study and provided critical revisions, and they contributed equally to this manuscript as co-corresponding authors; Yang JP acquired funding and acted as guarantor of the work; All authors contributed to data interpretation, manuscript preparation, and approved the final version. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Ningbo Mingzhou Hospital, The Mingzhou Hospital of Zhejiang University (Approval No. 202401027).

Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to the study because the analysis used anonymous clinical data that were obtained after each patient agreed to treatment by written consent.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Corresponding author: Jia-Ping Yang, MD, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Ningbo Mingzhou Hospital, The Mingzhou Hospital of Zhejiang University, No. 168 Tai’an West Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. 15888503855@163.com

Received: July 15, 2025
Revised: September 3, 2025
Accepted: November 27, 2025
Published online: February 19, 2026
Processing time: 198 Days and 21.8 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to analyse the relationship between motor anxiety and rehabilitation outcomes in elderly stroke patients during the rehabilitation period, and to identify the key factors affecting motor anxiety.

AIM

To determine the impact of motor anxiety on rehabilitation outcomes in elderly stroke patients and to identify independent risk factors contributing to motor anxiety.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on stroke patients who underwent rehabilitation at our hospital from March 2021 to January 2024. Patients were divided into an exercise anxiety group [Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) ≥ 50, n = 139] and a non-exercise anxiety group (SAS < 50, n = 67) based on their SAS scores after rehabilitation training. Compare baseline data across the two patient groups and examine differences in the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale (SEE), Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Correlations between the scores of the analysis functions were analysed. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for motor anxiety.

RESULTS

The mRS score (P < 0.001), TSK score (P < 0.001), and SDS score (P < 0.001) of patients in the exercise anxiety group were significantly higher than those of patients in the non-exercise anxiety group. In comparison, the SEE score (P < 0.001) was substantially lower than that of the non-exercise anxiety group. SAS was positively correlated with mRS (P = 0.015) and TSK (P < 0.01), and negatively correlated with SEE (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that SEE score [P = 0.028, odds ratio (OR) = 8.94], TSK score (P = 0.027, OR = 8.7), SDS score (P = 0.012, OR = 9.727), educational level (P = 0.034, OR = 11.462), and monthly per capita income (P = 0.028, OR = 8.95) were independent risk factors affecting patients’ motor anxiety. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the model’s area under the curve for predicting patients’ motor anxiety was 0.887, and the externally validated model’s area under the curve was 0.646.

CONCLUSION

This study identified a significant negative relationship between motor anxiety and rehabilitation outcomes in elderly stroke patients during the rehabilitation period. The SEE, TSK, and SDS scores, along with lower educational levels and monthly per capita income, are independent risk factors for motor anxiety in elderly stroke patients during this period.

Keywords: Stroke; Motor anxiety; Rehabilitation effect; Motor self-efficacy; Assessment of kinesiophobia

Core Tip: This retrospective study examines the impact of motor anxiety on rehabilitation outcomes in elderly stroke patients. Patients with higher anxiety levels showed poorer functional recovery, increased fear of movement, and lower self-efficacy. Using validated scales (Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Modified Rankin Scale, Self-Efficacy for Exercise Scale, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and Self-Rating Depression Scale), the study identified five independent risk factors for motor anxiety, including low self-efficacy, kinesiophobia, depression, and lower education and income. A predictive nomogram was developed and externally validated to evaluate motor anxiety risk. These findings emphasise the importance of psychological screening and personalised interventions during stroke rehabilitation to enhance functional outcomes and quality of life in elderly patients.