Supplementary information files for "Cardiorespiratory fitness in kidney transplant recipients: a pilot randomised controlled trial of structured home-based rehabilitation and a nested case-control analysis"

Supplementary files for article "Cardiorespiratory fitness in kidney transplant recipients: a pilot randomised controlled trial of structured home-based rehabilitation and a nested case-control analysis"Objectives: (1) Explore the effects of a 12-week home-based rehabilitation programme on cardiorespiratory fitness in kidney transplant recipients; (2) Compare cardiorespiratory fitness parameters in kidney transplant recipients and age-sex matched healthy volunteers to aid the justification for routine rehabilitation programmes.Design: Pilot randomised controlled trial with nested case-control.Setting: Home-based rehabilitation; hospital-based outcome assessments.Participants: Pilot randomised controlled trial: 50 stable kidney transplant recipients (>1 year post-transplant) (randomised 1:1; n = 25 control and n = 25 intervention). Nested case-control: 30 kidney transplant recipients and 30 healthy volunteers.Intervention: A 12-week home-based aerobic and resistance rehabilitation programme or guideline-directed care control.Main measures: Cardiorespiratory fitness measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing.Results: Pilot randomised controlled trial: After adjusting for baseline, follow-up values were significantly greater in intervention compared to control for peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) mL/kg/min, (+1.50, p = .03) and maximum workload (+8 W, p = .04) but not V̇O2peak L/min or variables at the gas exchange threshold. Higher frequency of aerobic exercise sessions was associated with greater improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (R2 = .252, p = .040). Nested case-control: V̇O2peak was reduced in kidney transplant recipients compared to healthy volunteers (18.81 ± 4.61 vs 24.06 ± 5.72 mL/kg/min; p Conclusions: A 12-week home-based rehabilitation programme induced a significant improvement in some cardiorespiratory fitness variables and higher frequency of aerobic exercise associated with greater improvements. Cardiorespiratory fitness is significantly impaired in kidney transplant recipients compared to age-sex-matched healthy volunteers. Together, these findings highlight the clinical importance of promoting aerobic exercise and the integration of rehabilitation programmes into routine care for this population.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04123951 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04123951).