Prevalence and correlates of physical activity across kidney disease stages: an observational multicentre study

People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) report high levels of physical inactivity, a major modifiable risk factor for morbidity and mortality. Understanding the biological, psychosocial and demographic causes of physical activity behaviour is essential for the development and improvement of potential health interventions and promotional initiatives. This study investigated the prevalence of physical inactivity and determined individual correlates of this behaviour in a large sample of patients across the spectrum of kidney disease.

A total of 5656 people across all stages of CKD (1-2, 3, 4-5, haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant recipients) were recruited from 17 sites in England from July 2012 to October 2018. Physical activity was evaluated using the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire. Self-reported cardiorespiratory fitness, self-efficacy and stage of change were also assessed. Binominal generalized linear mutually adjusted models were conducted to explore the associations between physical activity and correlate variables. This cross-sectional observational multi-centre study was registered retrospectively as ISRCTN87066351 (October 2015).

The prevalence of physical activity (6-34%) was low and worsened with disease progression. Being older, female and having a greater number of comorbidities were associated with greater odds of being physically inactive. Higher haemoglobin, cardiorespiratory fitness and self-efficacy levels were associated with increased odds of being active. Neither ethnicity nor smoking history had any effect on physical activity.

Levels of physical inactivity are high across all stages of CKD. The identification of stage-specific correlates of physical activity may help to prioritize factors in target groups of kidney patients and improve the development and improvement of public health interventions.