Page 62 - Physical activity in recipients of solid organ transplantation - Edwin J. van Adrichem

Chapter 4
indicated in order to get insight into the individual’s decision making process and to get
Materials and Methods
Participant selection
detailed information on perceptions, beliefs and attitudes is the use of individual semi-
structured interviews.
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e aim of the current qualitative study was to explore the
perceived barriers to and facilitators of PA in the four major SOT recipient groups.
Semi-structured interviews were performed with patients who had received a solid organ
transplantation at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). Participants were
eligible if they had a stable organ function, and if they comprehended the Dutch language.
A purposive sampling strategy was employed in which participants were selected who
would adequately represent diversity and produce relevant information to the research
question (i.e., active vs. inactive). Judgment of suitability was made by the treating
physician or physician’s assistant on the basis of their impression and anamneses of their
latest contact with the patient in the outpatient setting; the exact level of physical activity
was not assessed. Suitable participants were approached by their treating physician or
physician’s assistant and were invited to return an enrollment sheet by mail after reading
the invitation letter. Interviews occurred in blocks of four participants in order to maintain
an equal distribution of four organ groups (heart, lung, liver, and kidney). Interviews were
conducted until data saturation occurred (additional interviews to the point at which no
new themes arose during subsequent data collection). All participants provided their
written informed consent prior to the interview. Data were coded and anonymized.
e
study complied with the declarations of Helsinki and Istanbul. None of the transplant
donors were from a vulnerable population and all donors or next of kin provided written
informed consent that was freely given.

e Institutional Review Board of the UMCG
provided approval to conduct the study (METc 2013/410).
Data collection
Individual in-depth interviews were performed by one investigator (EA), a human
movement scientist/ physical therapist (aged 30, male) with four and a half years of
experience with transplant recipients in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Interviews
took place between December 2013 and January 2014 and were carried out at the
participant’s home or during an outpatient visit at the convenience of the participant.
e
interviewer had no treatment relationship with any of the interviewed participants.
areas addressed in the interviews were outlined in an interview guide with open-ended
e
questions covering themes and items derived from the literature, a pilot study, and key
questions from physical therapists, clinicians, and researchers (S1 Appendix).
expenditure
ned as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that resulted in energy

ereby, PA
was de

and as a guideline for participants this was formulated as activities that made
the breathing frequency go up and resulted in getting warmer or sweating.

e interview
60.
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