The impact of intradialytic physical exercises on the quality of life of hemodialytic patients: a narrative review

Abstract

Chronic renal patients on hemodialysis have their quality of life compromised, with limited daily activities and a sedentary life, which worsens their health status, as these individuals usually have comorbidities and complications. Intradialysis exercises are appointed as a tool to improve the clinical condition, however there are some difficulties regarding implementation, such as the medical routine that interrupts the exercises, the insecurity of patients and the issue of physical space itself. Therefore, the objective of this review is to gather evidence that demonstrates the benefits of different physical activities in the context of patients on hemodialysis, with a focus on exercise during treatment. This is a narrative review of 8 articles in English and Portuguese selected on the PubMed and BVS platforms with the help of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Original articles, free of charge, in their entirety, published in the last 10 years and that met the objective were used. The analysis and synthesis of the selected studies were carried out descriptively. As a result, it was found that when comparing the absence of exercises with the application of these, the experimental group demonstrates significantly statistical results, however when comparing exercise modalities there is no great evidence to demonstrate superiority of any. Exercise improves in several areas in people with renal impairment undergoing dialysis, with changes in the state of the kidneys, such as better filtration and dialysis efficiency, in addition to cardiovascular, muscular, immunological, enzymatic progress and several advances in quality of life physical and mental.