Light Exercise During Dialysis Tied to Improved Physical Functioning

WEDNESDAY, July 26, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who engage in light exercise while undergoing hemodialysis may see benefits in physical health and quality of life, according to a study published online June 17 in NEJM Evidence.

Kirsten Anding-Rost, M.D., from Technical University Munich in Germany, and colleagues assessed whether combined endurance and resistance exercise training during hemodialysis aided physical functioning, quality of life, hospitalizations, and overall survival in patients with chronic kidney failure. The analysis included 917 patients randomly assigned to the exercise intervention or usual care.

The researchers found that at 12 months, the 60-second sit-to-stand test repetitions improved from 16.2 to 19.2 in the exercise group but declined from 16.2 to 14.7 in the usual care group. The timed up-and-go test (group difference, −1.1 seconds) and the six-minute walk test (group difference, 37.5 m) also favored the exercise group. Within the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, the physical summary score and vitality subscale favored the exercise group, but the other subscales did not differ between the groups. In the exercise group, two median days were spent in the hospital versus five in the usual care group. No differences were seen for mortality and dialysis-specific adverse events.

"We were able to improve the participants' health and also reduce the costs to the health care system with relatively little outlay," a coauthor said in a statement.

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