Virtual Home-based Physical Pre-habilitation in Kidney Transplant Candidates

Launched by MCGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTRE/RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY HEALTH CENTRE · Oct 12, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help people with end-stage kidney disease prepare for a kidney transplant. The program lasts 12 weeks and takes place at home using an online video platform. It includes exercise routines and educational sessions to improve health before the transplant. After the initial 12 weeks, participants will continue with home exercises for an additional 5 months, unless they receive a transplant sooner. The main goals of the study are to see how many eligible patients want to join, how many complete the program, and how acceptable the program is for participants.

To be eligible for this trial, participants must be at least 18 years old and classified as pre-frail or frail based on a specific health assessment. They should also be in the process of getting on the kidney transplant waiting list and be able to connect to the online sessions, either on their own or with help from family. Those who are too healthy, already active in another exercise program, or have certain medical conditions may not qualify. Participants in the study will receive either the virtual program or standard care from their doctors. This trial is currently recruiting participants, and it aims to better understand the feasibility of this home-based pre-habilitation approach.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • consecutive individuals with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) (aged ≥18 years), classified as pre-frail (1-2 points), frail (3-4 points) or very frail (5 points) on the Fried's frailty phenotype and who are accepted or in the process of being accepted to enter in the deceased or living donor KT waiting list of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montreal (CHUM) or University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) for first-time transplantation or re-transplantation
• • English or French speakers
• • is technologically capable of connecting (either independently or through household members/next-of-kin) with an online videoconferencing platform through an e-mail invitation (Patients who do not have access to internet will borrow a tablet with internet for the period of the study)
• Exclusion Criteria:
• * Individuals who:
• • are classified as robust (0 points) on their Fried's frailty phenotype score
• • are participating in a structured exercise program (hospital-based or home-based or another trial)
• • are waiting for kidney-pancreas or kidney-liver transplant as those have much longer waiting time
• • are hospitalized for any reason during the assessment for eligibility
• • have a cPRA (calculated panel reactive antibodies) \>95% and are on the highly sensitized exchange program and expected to have a prolonged waiting times on the waiting list
• • are expected to have a transplant before the end of the 12 week-intervention (e.g. individuals who will receive an organ from a living donor or are type A blood
• • have pre-existing or newly identified significant cognitive impairment
• • have pre-existing or newly identified cardiac, musculoskeletal, neuropathy or neurological condition that might affect their exercise performance or otherwise render rehabilitation participation unsafe