Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Benefit from Intensive Lifestyle Interventions

In a recent study, researchers found that intensive lifestyle interventions were more effective at increasing the intensity of physical activity in patients with type 2 diabetes than Diabetes Support and Education alone.

The study included 2400 participations from the Look AHEAD trial that had accelerometry data as a part of their analysis. The participants were randomized into either the Diabetes Support and Education group, which operated as the control, or the intensive lifestyle intervention group, where participants reduced their caloric intake and progressed towards 175 minutes or more a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
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Researchers measured participants at the beginning of the trial, at 1 year, and at 4 years with a RT3 accelerometer, and calculated the bout-related moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

According to their findings, the bout-related moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was significantly greater in the intensive lifestyle intervention group at 1 year, and at 4 years, than in the Diabetes Support and Education group. There were more participants in the Intensive Lifestyle Intervention group who achieved a 175 minute or more per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at 1 year, and at 4 years, than participants in the Diabetes Support and Education group.

Overall, 41% of participants in the intensive lifestyle intervention group were able to achieve the 175 minutes or more threshold at 1 year and able to maintain the level of physical activity at 4 years, but the majority of participants never reached the 175 minute or more per week threshold level.

Their findings indicated that intensive lifestyle interventions engaged more participants and increased the bout-related moderate-to-vigorous physical activity rate throughout a 4-year period than Diabetes Support and Education alone.  

“However, future intervention strategies should target the large percentage of individuals who fail to reach the MVPA goal as result of a lifestyle intervention,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Unick JL, Gaussoin SA, Hill JO, et al. Four-year physical activity levels among intervention participants with type 2 diabetes. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 48 (12): 2437-2445.