Wei Jiang,1,* Mingyang Qian,1,* Qingsong Zou,1 Xiaowei Chen,2 Mengyi Xu,3 Jiangming Yu3 

1Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, 214122, People’s Republic of China; 2Kunshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215399, People’s Republic of China; 3Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200336, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Jiangming Yu, Department of Orthopedics, Tongren Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200336, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13916949892, Email yjm_st@163.com

Purpose: To explore the home rehabilitation experience of frail elderly patients with lumbar spine surgery and to analyse potential factors promoting and hindering their rehabilitation.
Methods: Purposive sampling method was used to select patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery in a tertiary general hospital in Shanghai, China, from January to March 2025 and 24 patients were chosen. A descriptive phenomenological research method was used with face-to-face semi-structured interview and raw data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method.
Results: The transcripts were synthesized into three main themes and nine sub-themes. (1) Barriers to exercise compliance, including poor compliance with rehabilitation, frail state of the body, negative emotions, and lack of professional guidance. (2) Facilitating factors, including health literacy, family responsibility and social support. (3) Latent demands, including diversified information support needs and continuity of care needs.
Conclusion: The home rehabilitation experience of frail patients was thoroughly explored, capturing physical, psychological, and rehabilitation needs. Future research should develop targeted home rehabilitation exercise programs for this vulnerable population and incorporate tele-rehabilitation modalities to facilitate safe and effective recovery at home.

Keywords: frail, elderly, lumbar spine surgery, experience, influence factors, home rehabilitation