Abstract: Objective: To integrate the formation and extinction mechanism of kinesiophobia in patients attending cardiac rehabilitation, and to provide evidence for improving patients' compliance of rehabilitation. Methods: The Chinese and English databases were searched. The quality of the literatures that met the inclusion criteria was evaluated, and the results were summarized according to the Meta-synthesis principle of qualitative research. Results: A total of seven articles were included. Eight categories and 47 themes were extracted and summarized into 3 integrated results: the formation, generalization, extinction of kinesiophobia. Conclusion: The formation of kinesiophobia in patients attending cardiac rehabilitation is due to the conditioned reflex and social acquisition. Medical and nursing staff should improve patients' cognitive ability, improve their exercise experience, and build a multi-support system to inhibit the generalization of kinesiophobia and promote the extinction of kinesiophobia.

Key words: cardiac rehabilitation; kinesiophobia; Meta-synthesis; qualitative study