Patients who engage in light exercise while undergoing dialysis are physically fitter and are admitted to the hospital less frequently than those who do not, according to a large-scale study.

Researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany believe that exercise programs should be offered to dialysis patients as a standard.

Severely impaired kidney function people require dialysis several times per week. Many also suffer from additional health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.

“The limitations imposed by these diseases, and the time required for dialysis, often mean that those affected engage in little physical exercise. We wanted to change that,” said Martin Halle, Professor of Preventive and Rehabilitative Sports Medicine at TUM.

In the study, the team involved about 1,000 patients at 21 dialysis centres in Germany. 

Over a 12-month period, half of the study participants completed accompanied exercise sessions at least once and ideally, three times per week alongside their dialysis, while others were subject only to medical monitoring.

These sessions included 30 minutes of endurance training with a bed-cycle ergometer and a further 30 minutes of exercises with weights, resistance bands, and balls. The exercises were tailored to each patient's ability.

After a year, the health of the study's active participants had improved significantly, compared to the other group.

“This type of standardised testing may admittedly not appear to be particularly reflective of everyday life,” said Halle, in a paper published in the journal NEJM Evidence.

“However, the results demonstrate tangible improvements in quality of life and autonomy. For example, the participants were able to stand up from a chair at home without assistance, which was not always the case beforehand.”

Further, participants who completed regular training sessions spent an average of two days in the hospital during the study, compared to an average of five days for the control group.

“The results speak for themselves,” Halle said, adding “We were able to improve the participants' health and also reduce the costs to the healthcare system with relatively little outlay.”