Effect of Exercise With Virtual Reality in Hemodialysis Patients
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
Background. An increase in inflammatory biomarkers is associated with impaired kidney function and increased cardiovascular risk and mortality. Physical exercise has been shown to improve the functional capacity and inflammatory status of patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment, increasing their health-related quality of life. Virtual reality (VR) is an effective and safe tool to increase patient adherence to the exercise program, however, there are very few studies that analyze its effect on the functional capacity of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in HD and none analyze its effect on the inflammatory state of these patients, which justifies the performance of this study.
Methods. Eighty patients with CKD on HD treatment will be randomly assigned into two groups, one of them will perform an intradialysis exercise program with non-immersive VR (intervention group; n=40), and the other will not perform exercise (control group; n). =40). The functional capacity of the patients and their inflammatory and psychological status will be analyzed by determining functional variables and inflammatory biomarkers before and after the VR exercise program.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
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N/A |
Detailed Description
Description of the intervention The exercise program will last for 12 weeks. Randomly, half of the patients will be instructed to continue with their usual care for the disease (control group) and the other half will be instructed to carry out the intradialysis non-immersive virtual reality exercise program.
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Control Group (CG): They will not exercise with virtual reality during the hemodialysis treatment (n = 40).
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Intervention Group (IG): Will perform an intradialysis physical exercise program with non-immersive virtual reality during the first two hours of hemodialysis treatment (n = 40).
Exercise program The direction and supervision of the exercise programs will be the responsibility of the nursing staff of the Hemodialysis Unit and several physiotherapists of the Rehabilitation Unit of the General University Hospital of Alicante Doctor Balmis, the nursing staff being in charge of directing and supervising the intradialysis exercise program.
Prior to the beginning of the intervention, said personnel will receive exhaustive training on the characteristics of the exercise program and on how to carry it out in an optimal way. In this training they will be instructed on how to execute each of the exercises in the program with virtual reality.
During the two weeks prior to the intervention, a "first contact" period will be carried out, during which the nursing staff will implement the virtual reality intradialis exercise program as a test, so that they can familiarize themselves with the material necessary to exercise, as well as resolve any doubts that may arise. This trial period will be supervised by the physiotherapist in charge of giving them the training.
On the other hand, to improve adherence to exercise by patients and avoid losses throughout the program, all the staff in charge of directing and supervising the exercise will receive a training session by a psychologist specialized in managing barriers in special populations during exercise, with the aim of developing strategies to address these barriers during the intervention period.
The exercise program will have a duration of 12 weeks, with a frequency of 3 exercise sessions per week, these being of a progressive duration according to the patient's capacity (EEP 13-15), until reaching 30 minutes per session, and performed during the first two hours of HD treatment.
Before and after each exercise session, heart rate and blood pressure will be recorded.
Patients will be instructed to perform the exercise independently or with minimal assistance.
The non-immersive virtual reality exercise program is described below:
- Intervention Group (IG): Participants assigned to this group will start with a 5-minute warm-up session and then perform a virtual reality exercise session for up to a maximum of 30 minutes, depending on the rate of perceived exertion that should be felt between "somewhat hard" and "hard" (13-15 out of 20 in EEP). The intensity will progress by increasing the number of exercise series (each lasting 3 minutes) and may vary between 1 and 10 series, depending on the patient's capacity, taking a 1-minute break between each series.
The hemodialysis session may be carried out simultaneously with the exercise, since the work will focus on the lower limbs.
An adapted version of ACT (Treasure Hunt) will be used for the VR program. ACT is a non-immersive virtual reality system designed with a playful scheme. For the participants, the system is an intradialysis virtual reality game, which makes dialysis sessions more enjoyable. In ACT, the subject tries to hit a series of targets (avoiding obstacles) by moving the leg.
The difficulty in ACT is graduated according to the characteristics of the participants, who will be able to change the leg during the game when they feel tired.
The general hardware setup consists of a standard computer, a television (commonly found in HD units), and a Ms Kinect® motion tracking system.
At the beginning of the session, the therapists define the VR intervention for the session using a management tool, adding different rest periods and configuring their duration. The difficulty level of the exercise will also be set at startup, and therapists will be able to program the system to automatically increase or decrease the difficulty level depending on the participant's performance.
Before their first session, each participant will receive instructions on the general use of the system and a test session will take place.
At the end of the program, participants will end the session with another 5 minutes of gentle stretching.
Control group (CG): The participants in this group will not exercise during the HD treatment, continuing with their usual care.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| Experimental: Intervention Group (IG) They will perform an intradialysis physical exercise program with non-immersive virtual reality during the first two hours of hemodialysis treatment (n = 40). |
Other: Exercise with virtual reality during hemodialysis treatment
Participants assigned to this group will start with a 5-minute warm-up session and then perform up to a 30-minute virtual reality exercise session, depending on the rate of perceived exertion that should feel between "somewhat difficult" and "difficult." (13-15 of 20 in EEP). The intensity will increase by increasing the number of exercise series (each 3 minutes long) and may vary between 1 and 10 series, depending on the patient's capacity, taking a 1-minute break between each series.
An adapted version of ACT (Treasure Hunt) will be used for the VR program. ACT is a non-immersive virtual reality system designed with a playful scheme. For the participants, the system is an intradialysis virtual reality game, which makes dialysis sessions more pleasant. In ACT, the subject attempts to hit a series of targets (avoiding obstacles) by moving the leg.
At the end of the program, participants will end the session with another 5 minutes of gentle stretching.
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| Active Comparator: Control Group (CG) They will not exercise with virtual reality during the hemodialysis treatment (n = 40). |
Other: Exercise with virtual reality during hemodialysis treatment
Participants assigned to this group will start with a 5-minute warm-up session and then perform up to a 30-minute virtual reality exercise session, depending on the rate of perceived exertion that should feel between "somewhat difficult" and "difficult." (13-15 of 20 in EEP). The intensity will increase by increasing the number of exercise series (each 3 minutes long) and may vary between 1 and 10 series, depending on the patient's capacity, taking a 1-minute break between each series.
An adapted version of ACT (Treasure Hunt) will be used for the VR program. ACT is a non-immersive virtual reality system designed with a playful scheme. For the participants, the system is an intradialysis virtual reality game, which makes dialysis sessions more pleasant. In ACT, the subject attempts to hit a series of targets (avoiding obstacles) by moving the leg.
At the end of the program, participants will end the session with another 5 minutes of gentle stretching.
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Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Change of Interleuquine 6 (IL-6) (pg/ml) [Change from Baseline IL-6 at 12 weeks]
Inflammatoy marker
- Change of Tumoral Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) (pg/ml) [Change from Baseline TNF-a at 12 weeks]
Inflammatoy marker
- Change of C Reactive Protein (CRP) (mg/L) [Change from Baseline CRP at 12 weeks]
Inflammatoy marker
- Change of Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM 1) (ng/ml) [Change from Baseline ICAM 1 at 12 weeks]
Inflammatoy marker
- Change of Vascular cell adhesion protein 1 (VCAM 1) (ng/ml) [Change from Baseline VCAM 1 at 12 weeks]
Inflammatoy marker
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Assessment of the functional capacity of patients: Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) [baseline and up to 12 weeks]
Mesure dependency, institutionalization, hospitalization and mortality. Score ranges from 1 to 12 points
- Assessment of the functional capacity of patients: 10 Sit To Stand Test (10 STS). [baseline and up to 12 weeks]
Seconds it takes for the patient to get up and sit down 10 times
- Assessment of the functional capacity of patients: 60 Sit To Stand Test (60 STS). [baseline and up to 12 weeks]
Number of times the patient gets up and sits down during 60 seconds
- Assessment of the functional capacity of patients: 6 minute walk test (6MWT) [baseline and up to 12 weeks]
Meters that a patient is able to walk for 6 minutes
- Psychological assessment of patients: Multidimensional Questionnaire of Adaptation to the Disease for Renal Patients on Dialysis [baseline and up to 12 weeks]
It consists of two phases: Phase A and Phase B. The Phase A, which includes 12 items, collects all the information from the clinical history of the patient. This phase includes two areas "Data Doctors" and "Previous Psychopathological History". Phase B, which includes 51 items, it is made up of nine areas that make up the evaluation of the patient. This phase includes the following areas: "Sociodemographic data" (6 items), "Information",(9 items), "Medication and diet" (3 items), "Social support" (4 items), "State of encouragement" (2 items), "Personal resources, coping and resilience" (8 items), "Learning and perceived changes" (5 items), "Spirituality" (2 items) and "Care planning" (2 items). The questions have four formats of response; three of them closed in nature (dichotomous responses, nominal categorical, and 10-point Likert-type scales), and one open and qualitative. An increase in the scale score is positive. A change α < 0.05 is considered statistically significant.
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Patients will have to have undergone hemodialysis treatment for at least three months and must be in a stable clinical situation.
Exclusion Criteria:
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Having suffered a myocardial infarction in the previous 6 weeks.
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Present unstable angina on exercise or at rest.
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Amputation of lower limbs above the knee without prosthesis.
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Cerebral vascular disease such as stroke or transient ischemia.
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Musculoskeletal or respiratory disorders that worsen with exercise.
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Impossibility of carrying out functional tests.
Contacts and Locations
Locations
No locations specified.Sponsors and Collaborators
- Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche
- European University of Madrid
Investigators
None specified.Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
None provided.- TFM.MMC.EJPP.EMO.220221