Self reproted physical activity in the dialysis population

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research on "Self reported physical activity in dialysis patient" supplies information about physical activity from the largest cohort of dialysis patients to date. Physical activity has been to shown to decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the general population. Cardiovascular disease causes more than 50 percent of the deaths within the end stage renal disease population. Therefore it is important to describe and to understand some of the barriers to physical activity within this population. Our proposed study uses data that have already been collected from a survey of over 1600 patients just beginning dialysis. We plan to describe their level of physical activity from a questionnaire. This questionnaire has been used for many years in describing physical activity among persons with diseases such as heart disease and arthritis. Our proposed study will allow us to compare levels of physical activity for persons on dialysis to persons with other chronic diseases, and to understand which characteristics are associated with higher and lower levels of activity. While patients getting dialysis, particularly hemodialysis, could feasibly participate in an exercise program while at a dialysis center, no formal guidelines for exercise programs have been implemented. An analysis examining the correlation between physical activity, and survival and cause specific hospitalization is needed to motivate such interventions. We will analyze whether a higher level of activity increases the lifespan or decreases the number of hospitalizations for people on dialysis, which in turn will help supply more information about whether physical activity is beneficial for them.