Institutional Review Board of the Cardinal Tien Hospital

According to the United States Renal Data System (2015), in 2013, 88.2% of all incident cases of ESRD involved renal replacement therapy with haemodialysis, ESRD is highly prevalent in Taiwan, with 2,902 cases per million people; 89.7% of cases in 2012 involved maintenance haemodialysis treatment as the renal replacement therapy. Patients generally receive haemodialysis 3 days per week, and each session generally takes 4 hr. Beginning dialysis induces multiple physical and psychological stressors in patients. In particular, the importance of intervention programs improving psychosocial function should be noted considering disease and its long-term treatment. High depression and fatigue are crucial for consideration in the global care of dialysis patients because these factors are associated with mortality. A significant correlation exists between reduced physical activity and increased depression or fatigue; with decreased activity, muscle strength decreases, which exacerbates depression and fatigue.

Depression is the most common psychosocial problem observed in ESRD patients undergoing haemodialysis, with a prevalence between 27.9% and 40.2% associated with a high risk of hospitalisation and prolonged hospital stay, reduced quality of life (QOL), decreased adherence to dialysis prescriptions, and increased medical comorbidity.

Fatigue is another critical concern caused by haemodialysis; ESRD patients receiving haemodialysis have reduced red blood cell production, thus causing fatigue, the prevalence of which ranges between 53% and 97%. Fatigue has a negative effect on the physical function, ability to perform daily activities, QOL, and even survival of patients. QOL is the subjective perception of an illness and corresponding treatment regarding physical, psychological, and social well-being; however, QOL serves as a prognostic measure and predictor of survival. ESRD patients receiving haemodialysis have a lower QOL than do other patients with other chronic illnesses and general population. Lower health-related QOL is associated with higher rates of hospitalisation and lower rates of survival among patients undergoing haemodialysis. Therefore, identifying effective interventions to assist ESRD patients receiving haemodialysis in managing their physical, psychological, and social problems is critical.

Regular exercise could improve general health in many chronically ill patients. Planned exercise programs are nonpharmacological interventions that can safely and effectively improve depression, fatigue, and QOL. For ESRD patients undergoing haemodialysis, many previous studies have shown that exercise decreases fatigue and depression, and improves QOL. Accordingly, an intradialytic exercise program should be considered as a possible therapeutic approach for improving fatigue, depression, and QOL in ESRD populations and should be encouraged by and performed in haemodialysis centres. Although the benefits of related exercise programs are known, an effective intradialytic exercise program for routine therapy has not yet been developed. Few previous studies have implemented exercise programs to examine the effects of psychological factors and QOL on patients receiving haemodialysis in Taiwan.

Exercise self-efficacy is a crucial mediator of health behaviour. Self-efficacy is a key construct in social-cognitive theory, in which personal beliefs correspond to an individual's perceived ability to successfully perform specific tasks and activities. Pertaining to beliefs in a person's ability to manage prospective situations, self-efficacy beliefs focus on mediating change in individual behaviours. Thus, self-efficacy has a mediating effect on depression resulting from stressful events. Self-efficacy as a mediator complements family and healthcare provider support in diminishing the negative impact of depression in haemodialysis patients. Relevantly, resilient people tend to have apparent adaptive behaviours, particularly those related to somatic health. Resilience specifically refers to smooth and rapid recovery from setbacks that may occur in a person's life. As such, psychological resilience is considered a protective mechanism that operates in the presence of negative stressors. People who are maladaptive with low competence and low adversity score lower on these measures than resilient and competent groups do. Exercise self-efficacy, resilience, and exercise behaviour are interrelated. Self-efficacy may motivate people to perform their physical activity. However, the true effect of exercise programs fails to account for the mediating effects of exercise self-efficacy and resilience.