| Objective To explore the potential mediating effect of self-perceived burden between quality of life and psychological distress in patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF), and the moderating effect of family support on the mediating process. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted in 225 patients with OVCF admitted to our hospital from February 2021 to January 2023 by using the concise health survey scale, the self-perceived burden scale, the psychological pain scale, and the family support self-rating scale. Process plug-in and Bootstrapp test were used to construct structural equation model and to determine the significance of mediating effect and moderating effect. Results The negative predictive effect of quality of life on psychological distress was significant (β=-11.173, SE=0.053, t=-11.173, P<0.001). Self-perceived burden played a partial mediating role between quality of life and psychological distress (β= -0.176, SE=0.050,95% CI : -0.283- -0.088 ), and the mediating effect accounted for 29.73%. The interaction between self-perceived burden and family support had a significant effect on psychological distress (β=-0.029, P<0.05, 95% CI : -0.057- -0.001 ). Low level of family support regulated the mediating process of self-perceived burden between quality of life and psychological distress (β=0.424, P<0.05, 95 % CI : -0.333- -0.099 ). Conclusion Self-perceived burden is an important intermediary factor for the quality of life and psychological distress in OVCF patients, which is regulated by family support. When family support is low, the increase of self-perceived burden in OVCF patients may aggravate psychological pain. |