Objective To explore the mediating effect of rumination between self-perceived burden(SPB)and stigma in stroke patients,so as to provide theoretical basis for the development of targeted nursing interventions in clinical practice.Methods In September 2022,cluster sampling was used to select 1 126 stroke patients admitted to Department of Neurology of five Class Ⅲ Grade A hospitals in Henan Province as subjects.General Information Questionnaire,Self-Perceived Burden Scale(SPBS),Stroke Stigma Scale(SSS),and Chinese Version of Event Related Rumination Inventory(C-ERRI)were used to investigate stroke patients.Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between SPB,rumination,and stigma.AMOS 28.0 software was used to establish the structural equation model,and Bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effect.Results A total of 1 126 questionnaires were distributed,and 1 026 valid questionnaires were collected,with a valid response rate of 91.12%(1 026/1 126).SPBS score of 1 026 stroke patients was(28.68±8.32),the SSS score was(40.53±9.48)and the C-ERRI score was(25.43±12.62).Pearson correlation analysis showed that SPB in stroke patients was positively correlated with stigma and rumination(P<0.01),and rumination was positively correlated with stigma(P<0.01).Bootstrap mediating effect test showed that rumination partially mediated the relationship between SPB and stigma in stroke patients,accounting for 55.15%of the total effect.Conclusions SPB of stroke patients both directly affect stigma and indirectly affect stigma through rumination.Clinical nursing workers should promptly evaluate patients'SPB,pay attention to the mediating role of rumination,develop effective psychological intervention programs,implement personalized and targeted nursing measures,relieve patients'stigma,and improve treatment and rehabilitation compliance.