Impacts of Exercise programs on Hemodialysis Patients’ Quality of Life and Physical Fitness
Research Abstract
Physical functioning declines over time with dialysis
therapy. In hemodialysis (HD) patients, exercise has been
established as a vital part of health promotion activities to
improve all aspects of quality of life.
Methods: A quasi-experimental intervention design
was used, with pre and post assessments of the effects of
implementation of an exercise program for hemodialysis
patients at Mohail General Hospital in southern Saudi Arabia.
Questionnaires were used to collect the following data:
Physical Fitness Measurement, KDQoL-SFTM 1.3, Borg's
15-point scale for rating of perceived exertion (RPE), vital
signs, and lab investigation of hemoglobin, serum phosphates,
serum albumin, creatinine, fasting blood sugar, Kt/v, and urea.
Results: In the pre and post physical fitness scale as
assessed by patients, there were statistically significant
changes to the scores of all activities (p<0.001). Regarding
the correlations between pre and post-program quality of life
(QOL), scores indicate weak to strong statistically significant
positive correlations in all domains except for those of cognitive
function, quality of social interaction, and sleep. Moreover the
patients’ Borg scores showed statistically significant decreases
throughout the three months of follow-up (p<0.001). In
addition, there were improvements in the adequacy of dialysis
(kt/v) and in serum potassium levels (p<0.001) from the first
to the third months. Although the percentages of patients with
hemoglobin level 11 gm/dl or higher increased from 41.1% in
the first month to 60.3% in the third month, the difference was
not statistical significance (p=0.067).
Conclusions: The implementation of the exercise program
was associated with significant improvements in the scores
of all domains of quality of life and the physical fitness scale.
Therefore, we suggest the exercise program might be applied in
other similar situations such as with peritoneal dialysis patients
so the effects can be evaluated for further improvement.
Research Keywords
Exercise Program, HD, QOL, physical fitness .