Type II Diabetes patients have poor fitness levels

It is a known fact that diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both.Exercise has been known to increase insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, making it a safe, effective, and non-invasive treatment modality for T2D.

A recent study published in Journal of the Association of Physicians of India showed the safety and feasibility of conducting video call-based assessment of physical fitness by physiotherapists. The study also highlighted the poor glycemic control, high cardiovascular risk, and poor level of physical fitness in people with diabetes in India. Insights based on physical fitness, current physical activity status, and pain can help in developing personalized exercise plans for people with diabetes.

One hundred participants with type II diabetes (T2D) underwent 6-minute walk test 1-minute push-up test, wall sit test, 1-minute sit-up test, and V-sit and reach test for measuring different components of physical fitness such as aerobic capacity, upper body strength, lower body strength, core strength, and flexibility, respectively. The performance in physical fitness of participants was analyzed after the video consult along with pain complaints and current exercise status.

It was found that the current physical activity status (aerobic exercise for minimum 20 minutes) did not show any association with performance in fitness tests. Presence of upper body and lower body pain affected the performance in push-up test and wall sit test with 71.4% and 95.6% of participants achieving scores in poor to below-average range. Hence, it was proven that people with type 2 diabetes have poor fitness levels.

Reference:

Bhagat M, Mandlekar A, Verma R, et al. Video Call-based Fitness Assessment shows Poor Fitness in People with Type II Diabetes: Findings from Diabefly Digital Therapeutics Program. J Assoc Physicians India 2022;70(7):80–86.