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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Nephrology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1573498
Meta-analysis of the Effects of Exercise Interventions on Dialysis Patients with Cardiac Function Disorders
Provisionally accepted- 1College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2Huangshi Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Huangshi, China
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Background: Prolonged dialysis can lead patients to multiple complications, with heart failure being the most dangerous and the leading cause of death among dialysis patients. Concurrently, exercise has been shown to improve several indicators of heart function.Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted across seven databases. The search was limited to studies published between January 2010 and July 2024. Results: (1) Compared to conventional care, exercise significantly increased the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in dialysis patients (MD = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.15-2.84, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that combined aerobic and resistance exercise led to a more substantial increase in LVEF compared to aerobic exercise (MD = 2.78, 95% CI: 1.17-4.38, P < 0.001). Each workout lasting more than 30 minutes was associated with a significant increase in LVEF compared to sessions lasting 30 minutes or less (MD = 2.5, 95% CI: 0.57-4.43, P = 0.001). An exercise intervention cycle of 10 to 12 weeks resulted in a significant increase in LVEF compared to cycles longer than 12 weeks (MD = 3.36, 95% CI: 2.04-4.68, P < 0.001). A weekly exercise frequency of more than three times per week significantly improved LVEF compared to three times per week or less (MD = 2.73, 95% CI: 1.21-4.25, P < 0.001). (2) In comparison to conventional care, exercise effectively reduced the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) of dialysis patients (MD = -7.93, 95% CI: -14.67--1.19, P = 0.02). However, exercise interventions did not demonstrate statistically significant improvements in pulse wave velocity (PWV), left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV).Conclusion: Exercise can significantly enhance LVEF and decrease LVMI in dialysis patients. However, no significant improvements were observed in PWV, LVESV, or LVEDV. The subgroup analysis indicated that a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise had a better effect on improving LVEF compared to aerobic exercise, and exercise intervention with each workout lasting for more than 30 minutes, an exercise intervention cycle of 10 to 12 weeks, and an exercise frequency of more than three times per week were more effective in improving LVEF.
Keywords: Dialysis, Exercise, cardiac function, LVEF, Meta-analysis
Received: 09 Feb 2025; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhang, Chen, Chen, Huang and Ye. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tingrong Huang, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Zhao Ye, College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.