ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2026
Identifying patient profiles based on protection motivation theory to predict exercise adherence in patients with lumbar disc herniation: a latent profile analysis.
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe worldwide prevalence of lumbar disc herniation (LDH), a chronic low back pain condition, continues to increase because it represents a major global musculoskeletal health issue. The frequent recurrence of LDH requires patients to maintain their rehabilitation exercises, but there are significant differences in the degree of adherence of patients to their training plans. Protection motivation theory (PMT) provides researchers with a method to study the mental processes that influence health-related actions. Previous studies have not fully explored how different levels of patient motivation affect their adherence to exercise.
methodsData were collected from June to October 2025 from 372 LDH patients in Zhejiang Province who received care at a tertiary hospital. The researchers used six PMT subscale scores as indicator variables to perform latent profile analysis and selected the best number of profiles on the basis of model fit indices. The researchers used ANOVA and Kruskal‒Wallis and chi‒square tests to evaluate how demographic and clinical variables and exercise adherence differed between profiles. The researchers used multiple linear regression to determine whether motivational profiles independently predicted exercise adherence.
resultsThis study revealed three distinct exercise protection motivation profiles among patients with lumbar disc herniation: the first was “High Protection Motivation–Autonomous Management” (26.1%), the second was “Medium Protection Motivation - Cognitive - Behavioral Disconnection” (43.8%), and the third was “Low Protection Motivation–Negative Avoidance” (30.1%). Individual profile affiliation was significantly associated with age, pain intensity, economic status, and comorbidities. The level of adherence to exercise differed significantly across the profiles (p < 0.001), with the highest degree of adherence observed in the high-motivation group. After adjusting for covariates, regression analysis confirmed that latent profiles of protective motivation remained significant independent predictors of exercise adherence.
conclusionsPatients with LDH exhibit three distinct motivational profiles that are closely associated with exercise adherence. This study extends the application of protective motivation theory to the field of musculoskeletal rehabilitation while providing valuable insights for identifying key intervention populations, defining specific intervention targets, and developing intervention strategies. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.