In CKD patients, exercise training program improves cardiorespiratory fitness

In contrast to many prior exercise studies in CKD patients, this trial included an active comparator group, which provided similar (albeit less intensive) group social interaction to that experienced by participants in the supervised exercise training.

Therefore, the observed differences in physical function are more likely to represent true physiologic effects of exercise training and are less likely to be explained by greater motivation among the exercise group from greater interactions with healthcare providers and other patients. Furthermore, the exercise intensity goal was individualized for each subject, as a fixed range of each participant's heart rate reserve.

This accounted for inter-individual differences in maximal heart rate due to factors such as chronotropic incompetence and pharmacological beta-blockade. Study participants received 12 months of exercise training, testing the durability of the benefits of such interventions, in contrast to the 2-6 months of training in the majority of prior studies in kidney disease patients.

Finally, the study population included a racially diverse CKD population with a high burden of comorbidity including chronic cardiovascular diseases, reflective of the characteristics of many CKD patients in the US, thus enhancing the external validity of the study results.

Reference:

Effect of Long-term Exercise Training on Physical Performance and Cardiorespiratory Function in Adults With CKD: A Randomized Controlled Trial.  Daniel E. Weiner, Christine K. Liu, Shiyuan Miao, Roger Fielding, Leslie I. Katzel, Jamie Giffuni, Andrew Well, Stephen L. Seliger, Published: August 05, 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2022.06.008