What was the purpose of the study?

Patients with CKD have a very high risk of developing heart problems, losing muscle mass and experiencing poor mental health and a reduced quality of life. Being more active and taking part in exercise has the potential to improve all of these factors and is recommended in national guidelines as being an important part of treatment for CKD. Despite this patients with CKD tend to lead very inactive lifestyles, the reasons for which have not been widely investigated in the UK population. Our research has demonstrated that regular moderate aerobic exercise (e.g., walking) and strength training using weights are both highly beneficial for people with CKD. We now needed to develop effective strategies to help kidney patients be more active. This project was designed to find out how our patients feel and think about taking up exercise and becoming more physically active, so that we can develop programmes that will make it easier for them.

What did it involve and what did we hope to find out?

This study consisted of three distinct parts.

1. In part 1 we carried out a survey consisting of a series of short and widely-used questionnaires to find out about the participants' current exercise habits and their attitude to physical activity.

2. In part 2 we used group and individual discussions to explore in much greater depth the attitudes towards exercise amongst kidney patients and outpatient clinic staff. We also consulted patients about their preferred methods for delivering the programme. We then incorporated the findings into the design and testing of the motivational programme to help kidney patients become active.

3. In part 3 the findings from part 2 were used in collaboration with patient and expert representatives to develop interventions designed to promote physical activity for kidney patients. Group-based and individual discussions between kidney patients and researchers were then used discuss the content and delivery of these interventions. We then created a working model of the intervention that will be tested in further studies.

We hoped to understand our patients’ current activity habits and their attitude to the prospect of change in this aspect of their lifestyle, for example to overcome their fears or problems and benefit from the opportunity to exercise. We then hope to develop a motivational/educational programme specifically for CKD that will encourage patients to increase their physical activity levels.

Progress

The study ran between July 2012 and October 2018 from 17 sites across England, UK and 5656 participants were recruited.

What’s next?

We hope that the results of the study will help us to develop a fit-for-purpose behaviour change intervention that will help future kidney patients become more active and hence increase their chances of having a better quality of life.

Evidence

Details of the trial can be found here. Publications from the Q-CKD trial can be viewed here.