PURPOSE: To identify levels of kinesiophobia during the first 4 months after an acute episode of coronary artery disease (CAD), while controlling for gender, anxiety, depression, and personality traits.

METHODS: In all, 106 patients with CAD (25 women), mean age 63.1 ± 11.5 years, were included in the study at the cardiac intensive care unit, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden. The patients completed questionnaires at 3 time points: in the cardiac intensive care unit (baseline), 2 weeks, and 4 months after baseline. The primary outcome measure was kinesiophobia. Secondary outcome measures were gender, anxiety, depression, harm avoidance, and positive and negative affect. A linear mixed model procedure was used to compare kinesiophobia across time points and gender. Secondary outcome measures were used as covariates.

RESULTS: Kinesiophobia decreased over time (P = .005) and there was a significant effect of gender (P = .045; higher values for women). The presence of a high level of kinesiophobia was 25.4% at baseline, 19% after 2 weeks, and 21.1% after 4 months. Inclusion of the covariates showed that positive and negative affect and harm avoidance increased model fit. The effects of time and gender remained significant.

CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that kinesiophobia decreased over time after an acute CAD episode. Nonetheless, a substantial part of the patients were identified with a high level of kinesiophobia across time, which emphasizes the need for screening and the design of a treatment intervention.