The effectiveness of intradialytic exercise in ameliorating fatigue symptoms in patients with chronic kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: Hemodialysis in patients with chronic kidney failure is an intervention serving as an alternative to kidney transplantation. In 2019, chronic kidney failure became the world's 6th leading cause of death. In Indonesia, kidney failure has an increasing number of cases every year and is the 10th highest cause of death. According to basic health research in 2018, the prevalence of chronic kidney failure was 3.4%, and 19.3% of patients 15 years of age and older underwent hemodialysis. This study analyzed the effectiveness of intradialytic exercise in ameliorating fatigue symptoms in patients with chronic kidney failure undergoing hemodialysis, in terms of exercise type, duration, time, and frequency. METHODS: All appropriate and eligible full-text articles published between January 2010 and October 2021 were screened and extracted from the databases PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Science Direct, CrossRef, Google Scholar, and Garuda Database for Research and Technology. The articles were critically reviewed, and two independent authors reviewed the risk of bias by using the JBI form. Data analysis was performed qualitatively to obtain an overview of the characteristics of intradialytic exercise and quantitatively through meta-analysis. RESULTS: Intradialytic exercise was found to effectively decrease fatigue by 81% in the intervention group. The most significant effect sizes were as follows: type of intradialytic exercise: aerobic exercise (146%); duration of intradialytic exercise: >20 min (100%); time of intradialytic exercise: first 2 h (127%); and exercise frequency: <12 sessions (120%). CONCLUSION: The characteristics of intradialytic exercise that are considered effective in ameliorating fatigue are aerobic exercise lasting >20 min and performed in the first 2 h of hemodialysis, with a frequency of <12 sessions.