Introduction: Occupational Physical Activity (OPA) and Leisure Time Physical Activity (LTPA) can both help prevent diabetes. A Finnish study revealed OPA, LTPA reduced total and cardiovascular disease mortality among type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Few studies examined the metabolic effect of OPA and LTPA on type 2 DM, but some suggest LTPA can reduce short-term glycemic variability. However, few have assessed the impact of physical activity on long-term glycemic variability.
Method: We recruited patients with type 2 DM, aged 20-75, from our outpatient clinic from August 2014 to July 2021. We evaluated glycemic variability using the HbA1c Variability Score (HVS). We categorized metabolic equivalent of task (MET). min. wk-1 > 3000 as high activity, 600-3000 as moderate activity, and < 600 as low activity. We divided both leisure and occupational activities into thirds based on these activity levels.
Results: We enrolled 758 patients who had at least 3 years of follow-up for final analysis. Younger patients had significantly higher total physical activity (P = 0.019). Their micr- and macro-vascular complications, and oral antidiabetic agents (OAD), insulin use did not differ significantly. High LTPA patients showed significantly lower body mass index (P = 0.004), lower HSV score (P = 0.005), and less statin usage (P = 0.027). A1C was marginally better (P = 0.060). High OPA patients were younger (P < 0.001), predominantly male (P < 0.001), shorter DM duration (P < 0.001) and more biguanide usage (P = 0.026), but HVS did not reduce. Linear regression analysis found that LTPA reduced HVS in crude analysis, but the significance disappeared after adjusting other factors. In high OPA, we found it significantly increased HVS after adjusting other factors.
Conclusion: LTPA and OPA might have different effects in long-term glycemic variability in patients with type 2 diabetes.
H. Yu: None.
