To explore the status and obstacle factors of exercise in elderly maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients, so as to provide a clinical evidence for exercise guidance and targeted intervention in elderly maintenance hemodialysispatients.

A mixed method of consistent parallel design was adopted. A total of 180 elderly MHD patients in two ClassⅢ hospitals of Kunshan in December 2021 were enrolled using convenience sampling method and investigated by questionnaire. The statas of exercise and exercise self-efficacy were researched. Objective sampling method was used to interview 17 elderly MHD patients with semi-structured interviews. The obstacle factors of exercise were investigated.

A total of 180 valid questionnaires were collected in the quantitative study. The highest metabolicequivalent of leisure time physical activity was 1 188 MET-min/w, the lowest was 0 MET-min/w, and the median was 396 MET-min/w. Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between exercise self-efficacy and physical activity in elderly MHD patients (P<0.05). Qualitative study extracted 3 themes and 9 subthemes, including lack of exercise knowledge, low self-efficacy, family and social environment resource limitation.

Elderly MHD patients lack ideal exercise state. In clinical practice, medical staff should popularize exercise knowledge, improve patients' exercise self-efficacy, carry out family support education, increase social support, and select suitable exercise methods and develop individualized exercise programs according to patients' disease characteristics, so as to improve their exercise status.

Aged; Hemodialysis; Exercise; Obstacle factors