Pilates exercises and quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease

ABSTRACT Background and purpose: There is a need to investigate the effects of pilates exercises on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pilates exercises on the QOL of CKD patients. Materials and methods: For this randomized controlled clinical trial, we enrolled 50 CKD patients. The participants were randomly assigned to experimental ( n = 25) and control ( n = 25) groups. Modified classical pilates exercises were performed by the experimental group three times a week over a 12-week period. The Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF) questionnaire was completed by all participants at the beginning of the trial and two months after completion of the intervention. Data analysis was conducted using Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Results: There were significant increases in the scores of QOL dimensions in the experimental group after the intervention (p ≤ 0.05). Comparison of the mean differences at the beginning and two months after the study in the two groups showed that the scores related to QOL dimensions in the experimental group were significantly greater than the control group ( p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The findings indicated the pilates exercises can be valuable for improvement of CKD patients ’ QOL. Keywords: Chronic kidney diseases Pilates exercises Quality of life