Regular aquatic exercise for chronic kidney disease patients

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients not yet in dialysis can benefit from increased physical activity; however, the safety and outcomes of aquatic exercise have not been investigated in observational studies. The aim of this study was to analyze association of 10 years of regularly performed aquatic exercise with the study endpoint--that is, all-cause death or start of dialysis. Consecutive CKD patients were included in the study in January 2002. The exercise group (n=7) exercised regularly under the supervision of physiotherapist for 10 years; the control group (n=9), matched in terms of age and clinical parameters, remained sedentary. Low-intensity aerobic aquatic exercise was performed regularly twice a week; 32 weeks or more of exercise therapy sessions were conducted annually. None of the members of the aquatic exercise group reached dialysis or died in 10 years. In the sedentary control group, 55% reached the study endpoint--renal replacement therapy (n=2) or all-cause death (n=3). Occurrence of the study endpoint, compared using the exact multinomial test with unconditional margins, was statistically significantly different (P-value: 0.037) between the study groups. Regular supervised aquatic exercise arrested CKD progression. There was a statistically significant difference between the sedentary group and the exercise group in reaching renal replacement therapy or all-cause death in a follow-up time of 10 years.