Study on the effect of pre-rehabilitation home-based on patients undergoing kidney transplantation with end-stage renal disease: A study protocol.

Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of ERAS-based home exercise pre-rehabilitation in patients awaiting kidney transplantation.

Methodology: The proposed feasibility trial will be a single-arm, single-center study. A total of 47 ESRD patients awaiting kidney transplantation will be selected as subjects to undergo personalized family exercise pre-rehabilitation, including aerobic exercise, functional resistance exercise, and flexibility training. Briefly, a 6-minute walking test (6MWT), 4-meter gait speed, grip strength, and sit-to-stand test will be used as the main outcome indicators. The effect of family exercise pre-rehabilitation on the optimization of body function in ESRD patients undergoing kidney transplantation will be assessed. The days of hospitalization after kidney transplantation, postoperative complications, health survey (the Short Form Health Survey, SF-36), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) will be used as secondary outcome indicators to evaluate the improvement of quality of life, psychological function, and postoperative rehabilitation of patients after kidney transplantation. These indexes will be collected before and after intervention (baseline and before kidney transplantation), before discharge (after kidney transplantation), and 1 month after discharge.

Conclusion: This study will evaluate the effect of ERAS-based home exercise pre-rehabilitation on patients awaiting kidney transplantation, and possibly determine an application protocol for this population.

Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000037846. Registered on September 2, 2020.