{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T11:18:45Z","timestamp":1783423125795,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"IMR Press","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782086400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Br. J. Hosp. Med. (Lond)"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aims\/Background: Lumbar disc herniation is a common chronic musculoskeletal condition requiring long-term postoperative rehabilitation. However, implementation of existing nursing models is often discontinuous and they are generally not patient-centered. This study aimed to explore the effects of a continuous rehabilitation intervention program based on empowerment theory on pain severity, lumbar function, self-efficacy and quality of life in postoperative patients with lumbar disc herniation from the perspective of internal medicine and chronic disease management. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at Cangnan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, including 147 patients who underwent single-level lumbar discectomy between January 2023 and June 2025. The patients underwent single-level lumbar discectomy of lumbar disc prolapse and were divided into a control group (n = 75) and an intervention group (n = 72). The control group received routine nursing and health education postoperatively. On the basis of routine nursing, the intervention group received continuous rehabilitation intervention based on empowerment theory for 3 months. The intervention program consisted of three core components: (1) in-hospital empowerment; (2) post-discharge empowerment support (1\u201312 weeks after surgery); (3) digital empowerment support via the WeChat platform. The effects of the intervention were evaluated before and 3 months after the intervention using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: Baseline characteristics were comparable between the two groups (all p &gt; 0.05). After the intervention, the intervention group showed significantly greater improvements than the control group, with significantly lower median VAS score (3.00 vs. 4.00, p &lt; 0.001) and median ODI score (28.00 vs. 32.00, p = 0.005), as well as significantly higher median GSES score, SF-36 Bodily Pain (BP) score, and Role-Physical (RP) score (all p &lt; 0.001). The overall nursing satisfaction rate was also significantly higher in the intervention group (93.06% vs. 78.67%, p = 0.013). Conclusion: The empowerment-based continuous rehabilitation intervention was associated with lower pain, better lumbar function, enhanced self-efficacy, and improved quality of life in postoperative patients with lumbar disc herniation, offering a patient-centered strategy for long-term rehabilitation management from the perspective of internal medicine and chronic disease care.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.31083\/bjhm50685","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T10:55:28Z","timestamp":1783421728000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Empowerment-Based Rehabilitation on Patients Following Lumbar Disc Herniation Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.31083","volume":"87","author":[{"given":"Xin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The People\u2019s Hospital of Cangnan, 325800 Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-5753-345X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xia","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emergency Department, Cangnan County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 325800 Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"16242","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, Blyth F, Woolf A, Bain C, et al. 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