Performance Assessment of Patient on Dialysis

• Main Authors: Fabio Manfredini, Nicola Lamberti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2014-07-01
• Series: Kidney & Blood Pressure Research
• Subjects: Dialysis; Exercise tests; Physical activity; Exercise
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/355794

Patients on dialysis are poorly active and show a low level of physical functioning. Questionnaires and objective measurements of spontaneous physical activity are available as well as complex-expensive or simple-unexpensive tests useful to assess the patient's exercise capacity. Performance assessment unravels patients' capabilities, enables a tailored exercise prescription and provides predictive information on main clinical outcomes and therefore this topic should be of interest for nephrologists. A routinary minimal pool of tests might be usefully performed in a dialysis centre to stratify the patient's risk and to recognize patients in need of exercise training in order to address them to community-based or rehabilitative programs.