Determinants and definitions of re-injury anxiety, fear of re-injury and kinesiophobia: a systematic review

Abstract

Objectives : While reinjury anxiety has been identified as responsible for higher probability of injury among athletes returning to sport, the literature also highlights two other “analogous” concepts: fear of reinjury and kinesiophobia. However, differences with reinjury anxiety remain unclear. Thus, the aim of this study is (1) to conduct a systematic literature review to identify the determinants of reinjury anxiety, fear of reinjury and kinesiophobia, and (2) to clarify the similarities and differences according to their definition. Methods: The systematic review was conducted using the: “Medline”, “PsycINFO”, “PsycARTICLES”, “Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection”, “SPORTDiscus” and “SocIndex” databases. The keywords applied identified 3408 articles, 29 of which met the inclusion criteria and were consequently analyzed. Results: Reinjury anxiety is primarily associated with psychological factors and with the specific nature of the injury. Fear of reinjury and kinesiophobia are mainly associated with sociodemographic and medical factors. While the definitions of reinjury anxiety and kinesiophobia are consensual, several different definitions are reported for fear of reinjury. Conclusion: Differences between reinjury anxiety, fear of reinjury and kinesiophobia are discussed in order to clarify their definition: reinjury anxiety is considered as the cognitive and emotional reaction caused by anticipation of the negative consequences of the injury as perceived by the athlete; fear of reinjury is viewed as the emotional reaction caused by the athlete being exposed to an effective threat of physical injury, while kinesiophobia is the fear of performing painful movements or movements that might lead to a physical injury.