Physical activity is associated with serum albumin in peritoneal dialysis patients

The incidence of metabolic syndrome is about 50% in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The positive association of metabolic syndrome with lower physical activity (PA) has been reported in the general population, but the effect of PA in PD patients has not been clarified. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate PA in PD patients and to clarify the correlations between PA and various clinical parameters in PD patients. We assessed 38 PD patients (22 men; age: 63.9 +/- 10.8 years; body mass index: 24.0 +/- 3.9; 15 with diabetes) who had been treated with PD at least for 3 months. We defined PA as the average number of steps per day measured using a pedometer for 1 month. Blood biochemical findings and dialysis adequacy were measured as clinical parameters. Of the 38 patients, only 11 (29%) reached the steps per day of healthy individuals. In addition, steps per day were significantly correlated with serum albumin (r = 0.45, p = 0.01), C-reactive protein (r = -0.33, p = 0.04), and age (r = -0.34, p = 0.04). Multiple regression analysis showed that serum albumin was the only variable that significantly correlated with steps per day (beta = 0.42, p = 0.01). Our study showed that PA declines significantly in PD patients, which might correlate with malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis syndrome.