AI Article Synopsis

  • Impaired physical function and increased fall risk in patients with end-stage kidney disease negatively impact their ability to perform daily activities and overall quality of life (HRQoL).
  • A study of 113 haemodialysis patients found high rates of muscle weakness, exercise intolerance, and fall risk, with muscle strength correlating with HRQoL more than other factors.
  • The research highlighted that falls' risk influences social isolation and mental health, while subjective feelings of fatigue and health did not align with objective measures of physical capacity.

Article Abstract

Background: Impaired physical function due to muscle weakness and exercise intolerance reduces the ability to perform activities of daily living in patients with end-stage kidney disease, and by consequence, Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). Furthermore, the risk of falls is an aggregate of physical function and, therefore, could be associated with HRQoL as well. The present study examined the associations between objective and subjective measures of physical function, risk of falls and HRQoL in haemodialysis patients.

Methods: This cross-sectional multicentre study included patients on maintenance haemodialysis. Physical function (quadriceps force, handgrip force, Sit-to-Stand, and six-minute walking test), the risk of falls (Tinetti, FICSIT-4, and dialysis fall index) and HRQoL (PROMIS-29 and EQ-5D-3 L) were measured and analysed descriptively, by general linear models and logistic regression.

Results: Of the 113 haemodialysis patients (mean age 67.5 ± 16.1, 57.5% male) enrolled, a majority had impaired quadriceps force (86.7%) and six-minute walking test (92%), and an increased risk of falls (73.5%). Whereas muscle strength and exercise capacity were associated with global HRQoL (R = 0.32) and the risk of falls, the risk of falls itself was related to psycho-social domains (R = 0.11) such as depression and social participation, rather than to the physical domains of HRQoL. Objective measures of physical function were not associated with subjective fatigue, nor with subjective appreciation of health status.

Conclusions: More than muscle strength, lack of coordination and balance as witnessed by the risk of falls contribute to social isolation and HRQoL of haemodialysis patients. Mental fatigue was less common than expected, whereas, subjective and objective physical function were decreased.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6945514PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12882-019-1671-9DOI Listing

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