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CompletedNCT04901832Updated May 27, 2021

Intradialytic Stretching Exercises on Prevention and Reduction of Leg Muscle Cramps

An interventional study of Intradialytic stretching exercises in Muscle Cramp, sponsored by Kufa University. Completed at 1 site in Iraq. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-05-27.

Sponsored by Kufa University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 5 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Dec 2020, registered May 2021).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Renal replacement therapy is a treatment option for people who have acute or chronic renal failure. A patient with increasing symptoms of renal failure is referred to a dialysis and transplantation center early in the course of progressive kidney disease. Hemodialysis is one of the most widely used dialysis procedures. Muscle cramps are the most common complication experienced by hemodialysis patients that usually develop during and in between hemodialysis therapy. These cramps appear to be the most common reason for the early termination of the hemodialysis session.

  • Research Question: Is there a difference in leg muscle cramps levels between patients undergoing hemodialysis who received intradialytic stretching exercises compared to those patients who do not receive these exercises?
  • Hypothesis: Leg muscle cramp levels are less among patients undergoing hemodialysis who receive intradialytic stretching exercises compared to those patients who do not receive such exercises.
Read the detailed description

Study Sample:

Non-probability purposive sample of 60 patients undergoing hemodialysis. The sample is divided randomly into two groups; 30 patients as study group are exposed to intradialytic stretching exercises, and the other 30 patients are not exposed to the exercises considered as the control group.

The Study Instrument:

To determine the effectiveness of the intradialytic stretching exercises program on the prevention and reduction of leg muscle cramps among patients undergoing hemodialysis, the researcher has adopted an assessment tool in order to achieve each of the study objectives. This tool consists of three parts:

Part I: Socio-Demographic Data:

A socio-demographic datasheet consists of (6) items, which include residency, gender, age, smoking, educational level, occupational status. These variables are coded as preparation for data analysis.

Part II: Clinical Variable:

The second part of the questionnaire consists of (10) items, which include duration of dialysis treatment, number of hemodialysis session per week, duration of hemodialysis session, frequency of leg muscle cramps per week, site of leg muscle cramps, comorbidity, level of calcium, body mass index, ultrafiltration rate, and ultrafiltration volume. These variables are coded as preparation for data analysis.

Part III: Muscle Cramp questionnaire chart. The muscle cramp questionnaire chart is adopted to assess the level of muscle cramps during hemodialysis, before and after the intervention. This chart is used because it is an easy and valid tool, as it has been adopted in several previous studies. It contains various features of muscle cramps such as the frequency of muscle cramps, duration of muscle cramps, level of pain, temperature, and discomfort which was comprehensively scored as the level of muscle cramps ranging from (0-13).

Score Interpretation of Study Instruments :

Four scores are used for rating the levels of leg muscle cramps among Patients undergoing Hemodialysis in terms of no cramps, mild cramps, moderate cramps, and severe cramps. These cramps levels are scored as (0) for no cramps, (1 - 4) for Mild cramps, (5 - 8) for moderate cramps, and (9 - 13) for severe cramps.

Regarding the body mass index, four scores are used for rating the body mass index categories in terms of underweight, normal, overweight, obesity. These categories are scored as shown in the following table from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2020) Underweight:Below 18.5 Normal or Healthy Weight:18.5 - 24.9 Overweight:25.0 - 29.9 Obese:30.0 and Above

Data collection The Data Collection was done according to CONSORT 2010 Flow Diagram

02

Conditions studied

  • Muscle Cramp

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Keywords

  • Stretching Exercises, Muscle Cramps, Hemodialysis.
03

In context

Muscle Cramp

95 studies on the registry are indexed under Muscle Cramp; 9 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 60 is above the median of 50 across 85 interventional studies indexed under Muscle Cramp.

Browse Muscle Cramp studies →

Lead sponsor

Kufa University is the lead sponsor of 14 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patients with age group 20-60 years, because it is the most common age group affected by CKD and they appropriate to apply for the study program.
  • Both male and female patients who are undergoing hemodialysis and suffer from muscle cramps.
  • Patients who are receiving two or more HD sessions a week, to facilitate patients follow-up.
  • Patients who are willing to participate, because the patients' participation is voluntary.
  • Patients who are alert and able to communicate verbally, to make the program applicable and facilitate the data collection.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Emergency hemodialysis patients, to avoid mal-efficient (harmlessly apply the program).
  • Patients with vascular access in a lower extremity, to avoid vascular access failure.
  • Patients with skin sores, wounds, dermatitis, or edema of the lower extremities, with a known history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), peripheral vascular disease (PVD), or peripheral neuropathy, to prevent complications.
  • Patients who are unable to communicate, because the patients' communication is an essential part of data collection.
  • Patients who suffer from breathing difficulty, because the application of the program required patients compliance and may cause fatigue among involved patients
  • Not willing to participate, because the patients' participation is voluntary.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental Group

    The intervention in this group is stretching exercises with the aim of prevention and reduction of leg muscle cramps among patients undergoing hemodialysis

    Other: Intradialytic stretching exercises

  • No intervention
    Control Group

    The participants in this group used as reference group

Interventions

  • OtherIntradialytic stretching exercises

    Exercises performed actively and passively to reduce or prevent muscle cramps during hemodialysis procedure.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Muscle cramp questionnaire chart

    The muscle cramp questionnaire chart is adopted to assess the level of muscle cramps during hemodialysis, before and after the intervention.

    Time frame: 4 week muscle cramp assessment

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Al-Sadder Medical City / The Specialized Center for Kidney Diseases and Transplantation / Hemodialysis Unit
    Kufa, Al Najaf 54003, Iraq
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — Any data that does not violate ethical considerations will be obtained from the researcher.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf, Csr

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 27, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04901832
Lead sponsor
Kufa University
Responsible party
Amjed Abdulabbas Shraida (Principal Investigator, Kufa University) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 26, 2021
Start date
Dec 13, 2020
Primary completion
Jan 13, 2021
Completion
Mar 22, 2021
Last update
May 27, 2021

Study contacts

Diaa K Abd-Ali, Dr.
study director · University of Al-Ameed. College of Nursing

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in May 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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