Endurance Exercise Training before Hemodialysis : An Effective Therapeutic Modality for End-stage Renal Disease Patients

Lee, Young Kyu; Kim, Chan; Pyo, Jae Hwan; Kim, Chul Hyun; Ji, Jun Won

Abstract

Forty-six patients receiving maintenance "conventional" hemodialysis were studied before and after a 12-week conditioning program to determine the effects of physiologic and psychosocial functions. The subjects were assigned at random to either a exercise(n=25) or a control group(n=21). The subjects in the exercise group performed a combination of bicycle ergometry and treadmill walking two or four times a week for a total exercise time of 10-40 min per session. A low-level graded exercise treadmill stress test(GXT) were administered before and after training. Hematological and serum lipid profiles were also determined before and after training. Following training, there were improvements in physical work capacity(PWC) for the GXT(p<0.05). Also there was increase in physical fitness(p<0.05) compared with control. Although no significant differences in low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride, significant difference was observed for total cholesterol. Additionally, no significant changes were seen in hematological parameters, but psychosocial functions improved significantly after training. This study demonstrated that exercise training before hemodialysis can improve exercise capacities, physiologic and psychosocial functioning in end-stage renal disease patients. Thus, exercise training seems to have beneficial effects on physiologic and psychosocial functioning in hemodialysis patients, and should be considered as a therapeutic modality for their medical management and rehabilitation.