ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis dialysis patients are restricted in their physical functions. These restrictions affect physical activity, psychological status, health-related quality of life, and medical prognoses. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore regular exercise behavior and its predictors in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study design was used, and 122 subjects were recruited. Convenience sampling was conducted at an outpatient hemodialysis center of a regional teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. RESULTS: The results showed that only 23.8% of the participants engaged in regular exercise. There were statistically significant differences between the regular-exercise group and the no-regular-exercise group in terms of the 6-minute walk distance, exercise self-efficacy, fatigue, and depression. A logistic regression analysis indicated that depression (odds ratio=0.93) and exercise self-efficacy (odds ratio=1.45) were the significant predictors of regular exercise behavior for hemodialysis patients. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The present study demonstrated that low depression and high exercise self-efficacy were predictors of regular exercise behavior. The findings provide healthcare professionals with information that may be used to develop interventions that target the effective improvement of patient exercise habits.