We aimed to analyze the association between cognitive performance and physical activity in young adults with chronic kidney disease on dialysis replacement therapy.
Analytical cross-sectional observational study in dialysis units of third-level and second-level institutes. We applied three questionnaires; the MoCA test, IPAQ-SF, and KDQOL (cognitive and physical subscales). We used the phi coefficient for association analysis.
Data were obtained from 55 patients, with a median age of 27 years and an interquartile range of 24 to 28 years. Fifteen patients had a history of having received a kidney transplant, and 58.2% had been on another type of dialysis. 56.4% of the participants reported insufficient physical activity, and 81.8% of the sample presented some cognitive deficit. Patients with sufficient physical activity showed less frequency of cognitive deficit (difference in proportions 0.342; p0.001). The domains of cognitive performance most frequently altered were language (89.1%), attention (81.8%), and visuospatial skills (65.5%). The sample averaged 95 points on the KDQOL questionnaire, with no differences between groups. We observed that physical activity is associated with cognitive performance with a value of phi=0.44 p=0.001.
Cognitive performance is affected in up to 80% of patients with CKD; strategies on education related to physical activity could reduce the frequency of this complication.
The young population with CKD is particularly physically inactive. Effects of exercise protocols only last for the duration of the intervention; educational strategies related to physical activity could reduce the frequency of this complication.
physical activity
cognitive performance
