Publications by authors named "A Garcia-Testal"

Background: Lifestyle interventions aiming to improve dietary habits, increase physical activity level, and improve emotional well-being can positively impact clinical outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Educational material for health care professionals working with CKD patients that focuses on why and how to promote lifestyle changes is lacking. The present study aims to depict the material and dissemination methods for the peer-to-peer training program developed for health care professionals working in the dialysis clinics of the four countries engaged in the GoodRENal project: Spain, Greece, Sweden, and Belgium.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Dietary restrictions are common in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD). These restrictions result in a complex diet that becomes difficult for patients to understand and to follow. Therefore, we aimed to identify dietary needs, barriers, and facilitators that influence the adherence to dietary recommendations as perceived by patients on HD and their caregivers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often experience reduced muscle strength and diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and engaging in regular exercise may improve them. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of intradialytic exercise using non-immersive virtual reality (VR) on body composition of patients with CKD on hemodialysis (HD).

Methods: This was a substudy in a clinical trial of intradialytic exercise intervention using a non-immersive VR game in which the patient interacted by moving the lower limbs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objective: Patient activation is a concept that refers to the willingness to manage one's health and medical care. To assess it, a patient activation measure (PAM) has been developed and validated. Several studies report low activation in patients with chronic diseases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: among the groups more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic were patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis (HD) treatment due to their comorbidities, advanced age, impaired innate and adaptive immune function, and increased nutritional risk due to their underlying inflammatory state. All of these factors contribute to a higher risk of severe complications and worse outcomes compared to the general population when infected with SARS-CoV-2. Objective: the objective of this study was to describe the nutritional characteristics of and their potential association with the prognosis of COVID-19 in patients undergoing chronic HD treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF