Associations between physical activity levels and self-perceived quality of life and well-being in hemodialysis patients and their informal caregivers: a multicenter cross-sectional study
Cross-sectional study finds higher physical activity links to reduced fatigue and better health in hemodialysis pairs, indicating exercise benefits both patients and caregivers.
Key Points
To evaluate the associations between physical activity levels, well-being, and health-related quality of life among hemodialysis patients and their informal caregivers.
Enrolled 104 hemodialysis patient–informal caregiver pairs (patients: 73.1% male; caregivers: 30.8% male) in a multicenter cross-sectional study.
Administered self-reported questionnaires including the IPAQ short form, CES-D, GAD-7, FAS, SF-36v2, and the Zarit Burden Interview (caregivers only).
Patients had a mean physical activity score of 856.4 MET-min/week, with 38.5% reporting depressive symptoms and 55.8% reporting fatigue (mean FAS 24.0 ± 8.0, PCS 41.0 ± 10.7, MCS 47.7 ± 9.7).
Caregivers had a mean physical activity score of 1564 MET-min/week, with 36.5% exhibiting depressive symptoms and 38.0% reporting fatigue (mean FAS 20.4 ± 6.8, ZBI 22.2 ± 15.6, PCS 52.3 ± 9.7, MCS 48.7 ± 8.3).
Higher physical activity levels correlated with lower fatigue, enhanced vitality, and improved overall physical health in both patients and their informal caregivers.
Cite This Study
Κougioumtzidou et al. (2026) studied this question.