Increased daily sitting time in diabetes patients highly associated with knee pain
A study published in PLoS One has concluded that increased daily sitting time is associated with higher odds of knee pain, but not neck, shoulder, or lower back pain, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). These researchers from Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, found no significant association between sitting time and musculoskeletal pain (MSP) in patients with prediabetes or normal glucose levels.
Dr Francis explained the study background saying literature has already mentioned Detrimental associations of sedentary behaviour (time spent sitting) with MSP. More findings should be found on those with or at risk of T2D. This study examined the linear and non-linear associations of device-measured daily sitting time with MSP outcomes according to glucose metabolism status (GMS).
They used data from 2827 participants aged 40-75 in the Maastricht Study. Of these patients, 1728 had normal glucose metabolism (NGM), 441 had prediabetes, and 658 had T2D.
Based on the study’s findings, daily sitting time is associated with knee pain in the overall sample and those with T2D with OR of 1.07 and 1.11, respectively. This had no significance among prediabetics or NGM.
They said, “There were no associations recorded between daily sitting time and neck, shoulder, or low back pain in the models.”
The study concludes that among middle-aged and older adults with T2D, daily sitting time is associated with higher odds of knee pain but not with neck, shoulder, or low back pain.
Future studies could examine additional attributes of daily sitting, like sitting bouts and domain-specific sitting time, and the potential relationships between knee pain with mobility limitations.
Further reading:
Dzakpasu FQS, Koster A, Owen N, Galan BE, Carver A, Brakenridge CJ, Boonen A, Bosma H, Dagnelie PC, Eussen SJPM, Sethi P, Stehouwer CDA, Schaper NC, Dunstan DW. Device-measured sitting time and musculoskeletal pain in adults with normal glucose metabolism, prediabetes and type 2 diabetes-The Maastricht Study. PLoS One. 2023 May 4;18(5):e0285276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285276.
