Efficacy of Intradialytic Stretching Exercise on Health-related Quality of Life among Patients Undergoing Haemodialysis

Abstract

Introduction: Patients suffering from End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) are physically less active typically when compared to healthy individuals. Performing regular exercise could improve many attributes indicating the physical functioning of such patients and thus improving their quality of life. Haemodialysis patients can be safely guided to participate in a range of exercise programs to improve their health-related quality of life while restricting adverse effects to a minimum. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of intradialytic stretching exercise on quality of life among patients undergoing haemodialysis and to find the association between quality of life with selected variables in the experimental and control group. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test design with a control group was used to assess the effectiveness of intradialytic stretching exercise on HealthRelated Quality of Life (HRQOL) among haemodialysis patients. Two hundred patients were selected through purposive sampling technique. The inclusion criteria considered were chronic kidney patients undergoing haemodialysis for a period of one year, whose vital signs were within safe limits for exercise therapy. Patients with femoral catheter and lower limb pathology were excluded from the study. Results: There was no significant difference between experimental and control groups before the intervention in terms of HRQOL. Six months after the intervention, the post-test findings revealed that out of 100 participants in experimental group, 65 (65%) were having good HRQOL, 35 (35%) were having average HRQOL and no one had poor HRQOL. Whereas, in control group, out of 100 participants, pre-test scores were very similar to those of post-test. The pre-test scores showed 83 (83%) were having poor HRQOL, 17 (17%) were having average HRQOL and no one had good HRQOL. Post-test scores showed 84 (84%) were having poor HRQOL, 16 (16%) were having average HRQOL and none had good HRQOL. Conclusion: The study concluded that regular intradialytic stretching exercises among haemodialysis patients help in improving HRQOL.

Keywords

• end stage renal disease
• haemodialysis patients
• healthy individuals