Abstract
An interrelationship between psychological and physical health is generally accepted in the field of sports medicine. This preliminary study explored the association between emotional changes and functional outcomes and aimed to describe how each aspect progresses during postoperative rehabilitation. Four collegiate student-athletes (1 female and 3 males) who underwent supervised postoperative rehabilitation due to a lower-extremity injury volunteered for participation in the study. Emotion was quantified using a visual analogue scale prior to and after each session while self-reported function using the Lower-extremity Functional Scale was assessed every eight sessions throughout rehabilitation. There was a moderate correlation between emotional changes and functional outcomes (r = 0.58, p < 0.0001). After the first emotional improvement, patients experienced six emotional deteriorations (28% of the entire rehabilitation period; F49,297 = 2.25, p < 0.0001), while their function consistently increased (F49,147 = 17.39, p < 0.0001). Clinicians should be aware of the relationship between emotional changes and functional progression as well as the occurrence of emotional fluctuations when supervising and consulting patients during postoperative rehabilitation. A larger study is warranted to generalize the results.
Highlights
Our hypotheses were supported in that emotional changes were moderately correlated with functional progressions; a single-session of rehabilitation resulted in a slight emotional improvement and there was emotional fluctuation along with consistent functional progression
Given that the minimum values for each factor were recorded at the first session and had similar starting points, our observation suggests that achieving full functional restoration with an only slight emotional improvement may be a common phenomenon among collegiate student-athletes undergoing postoperative rehabilitation
The calculated r-values indicate that at least 17% up to 38% of the variation in functional progression can be explained by variation in emotional change
Summary
Patients (athletes) experience negative psychological responses such as frustration and self-doubt [1,2]. Functional progressions (e.g., pain reduction or mobility gain) and/or events occurring outside the rehabilitation space (e.g., socializing with family and friends) can have positive effects on the patient’s psychological responses [4]. Among the interactions involving each factor listed by Wiese [3], changes in emotional responses appear to impact behaviors such as adherence which in turn have been found to impact on rehabilitation outcomes [5]. Emotion is an inconsistent and unpredictable, temporary psychological state [6]; emotional fluctuations (e.g., change from negative to positive or vice versa) are common psychological responses that may occur throughout the rehabilitation period
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