| Objective To systematically review the current state of interventions for kinesiophobia in cancer patients, identify the types of interventions, target populations, content, delivery formats, duration, and assessment tools, and provide evidence for clinical practice.Methods Following the Arksey-O’Malley scoping review framework, we searched CNKI, CBM, VIP, WanFang, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, Medline, EBSCO, and CINAHL from inception to January 2026. Studies involving cancer patients aged ≥18 years that evaluated any intervention targeting kinesiophobia were included, regardless of setting or design (randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, or cohort studies). We excluded articles without full text, those with insufficient intervention descriptions, non-English/Chinese publications, and reviews. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data. Ultimately, 25 studies were included: 14 RCTs, 10 quasi-experimental studies, and 1 cohort study, originating from six countries (China, Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Mexico).Results Identified interventions comprised exercise programmes, cognitive-behavioural therapy, health education, virtual reality (VR) technology, mobile application-based support, and comprehensive multi-component approaches. Exercise and health education were the most frequently used, with the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) being the predominant outcome measure. Most studies focused on breast and lung cancer populations, with considerable heterogeneity in intervention duration and intensity. VR and multimodal interventions showed potential but lacked robust evidence; comprehensive programmes tended to yield superior effects compared with single-component interventions.Conclusion Current studies exhibit notable deficiencies in cancer type coverage, standardisation of intervention parameters, multidisciplinary integration, and high-quality evidence. Future research should develop and validate structured, multicentre, large-sample randomised controlled trials across diverse cancer types, strengthen nurse-led multidisciplinary collaboration, and integrate tele-rehabilitation and digital technologies to improve generalisability and long-term patient outcomes. |
