Daily PHYSICAL activity (DPA) IS markedly REduced in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients

patients are considered to be physically less activity than normal, but there are only few studies on this question. We measured DPA over 7 days, with the new Actigraph GT3X+ Activity Monitor®, on 63 patients receiving MHD 3Xwk for ≥6 months and 36 matched normals. Patients were 52±14SD years, 30% female; 35% diabetic; dialysis vintage, 61±47 mos. Normals were 49±12 years, 42% female, with similar racial/ethnic mix. The average daily vector magnitude for DPA, calculated as the square root of the sum of the squares of the three dimensional axes, was much lower in MHD, 398,868 counts (counts include HD days), vs. Normals (651,685 counts, P Hemodialysis (HD) Day 1 day Post-HD 2 days Post-HD Normal Controls Vector Magnitude Daily Average (Counts/Day ± SD) 347122± 135299 389077±168033 417870±174145 651685±58283 † P-Value relative to day of HD (2-tailed) 0.138 0.015*