Seminars in dialysis
January 1, 2026 · via Europe PMC
Prevalence and Correlates of Physical Activity Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Lin-Fan, Li HL, Luo JT, Song TM.
AI summary — for doctors, generated from the abstract only
A systematic review and meta-analysis found that only about 32% of hemodialysis patients meet recommended physical activity levels, with multiple pathophysiological, psychological, and treatment-related factors contributing to low activity.
What was studied
A systematic review and meta-analysis searched 11 databases (through March 2025) for studies on physical activity prevalence and correlates among hemodialysis patients, screening 24,566 records and including 12 studies (N=8,938), using a random-effects model to pool prevalence estimates and subgroup analysis to explore heterogeneity.
Key findings
- The pooled prevalence of meeting recommended physical activity levels (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity activity) among hemodialysis patients was 32% (95% CI 20%-46%).
- Higher prevalence of meeting activity recommendations was observed in studies with shorter dialysis vintage, self-administered physical activity measurement instruments, smaller sample sizes, and those published before 2020.
- Factors underlying physical inactivity were described as multifactorial, spanning pathophysiological, psychological, and treatment-related domains, though specific individual factors and their effect sizes are not detailed in the abstract.
- 12 studies totaling 8,938 patients met inclusion criteria after review of 252 full texts from an initial 24,566 records screened.
Clinical relevance
The findings suggest that physical inactivity is highly prevalent among hemodialysis patients, which may support efforts to design targeted intervention strategies addressing the multiple pathophysiological, psychological, and treatment-related barriers to physical activity, including activity on both dialysis and non-dialysis days as recommended by the authors.
Who should care
Limitations
The wide confidence interval (20%-46%) around the pooled prevalence estimate indicates significant heterogeneity across included studies; the review identifies methodological factors (measurement instrument, publication date, sample size) associated with varying prevalence estimates, suggesting measurement approach may influence results.
Only about 32% of hemodialysis patients meet recommended physical activity levels according to this meta-analysis, with multiple pathophysiological, psychological, and treatment-related barriers contributing to inactivity.
This is an AI-generated summary of the published abstract, not a clinical recommendation. It may not reflect the full text or subsequent updates — verify against the original source before acting on it.
Abstract
Physical activity has been recommended as an effective strategy to prevent complications in patients receiving hemodialysis. Multiple guidelines for chronic kidney disease recommend at least 150 min per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. However, the prevalence of meeting recommended physical activity levels among hemodialysis patients remains unclear, and the factors influencing physical activity participation require further investigation. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System, and SPORTDiscus from inception to March 5, 2025. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was used to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies. The pooled prevalence was calculated using a random-effects model. Subgroup analysis was conducted to explore sources of heterogeneity. We screened 24,566 records, reviewed 252 full texts, and included 12 studies (N = 8938). The pooled prevalence of meeting recommended physical activity was 32% (95% CI, 20%-46%). Higher prevalence was observed in studies with shorter dialysis vintage, self-administered PA instruments, smaller sample sizes, and those published before 2020. Factors underlying inactivity were multifactorial, spanning pathophysiological, psychological, and treatment-related domains. This review indicates a low prevalence of meeting recommended physical activity levels among hemodialysis patients, which is influenced by multiple factors. It is recommended that future studies further explore intervention strategies targeting physical activity on dialysis and non-dialysis days, based on factors that influence physical activity, to improve adherence.
DOI
10.1111/sdi.70019
PMID
41919596
Research metadata (titles, abstracts, authors, publication dates) is sourced from Europe PMC, which aggregates content from PubMed/MEDLINE, PubMed Central, and other providers under the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM/NCBI). NLM does not claim copyright on abstracts; the original journal publishers or authors may hold rights to the full articles. AI-generated summaries are derived only from the abstract, never the full text, and are always labeled as AI-generated.
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