Validation of a Counseling Strategy to Promote the Adoption and the Maintenance of Physical Activity by Type 2 Diabetic Subjects
- Chiara Di Loreto, MD,
- Carmine Fanelli, MD,
- Paola Lucidi, MD,
- Giuseppe Murdolo, MD,
- Arianna De Cicco, MD,
- Natascia Parlanti, MD,
- Fausto Santeusanio, MD,
- Paolo Brunetti, MD and
- Pierpaolo De Feo, MD
- From the Department of Internal Medicine, Section Internal Medicine, Endocrine and Metabolic Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Abstract
OBJECTIVE—There is enough evidence that physical activity is an effective therapeutic tool in the management of type 2 diabetes. The present study was designed to validate a counseling strategy that could be used by physicians in their daily outpatient practice to promote the adoption and maintenance of physical activity by type 2 diabetic subjects.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The long-term (2-year) efficacy of the behavioral approach (n = 182) was compared with usual care treatment (n = 158) in two matched, randomized groups of patients with type 2 diabetes who had been referred to our Outpatient Diabetes Center. The outcome of the intervention was consistent patient achievement of an energy expenditure of >10 metabolic equivalents (METs)-h/week through voluntary physical activity.
RESULTS—After 2 years, 69% of the patients in the intervention group (27.1 ± 2.0 METs × h/week) and 18% of the control group (4.1 ± 0.8 METs × h/week) achieved the target (P < 0.001) with significant (P < 0.001) improvements in BMI (intervention group 28.9 ± 0.2 versus control group 30.4 ± 0.3 kg/m2) and HbA1c (intervention group 7.0 ± 0.1 versus control group 7.6 ± 0.1%).
CONCLUSIONS—This randomized, controlled study shows that physicians can motivate most patients with type 2 diabetes to exercise long-term and emphasizes the value of individual behavioral approaches in daily practice.
Footnotes
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Prof. Pierpaolo De Feo, DIMI, Via E. Dal Pozzo, 06126 Perugia, Italy. E-mail: defeo{at}dimisem.med.unipg.it.
Received for publication 6 July 2002 and accepted in revised form 30 September 2002.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.
- DIABETES CARE
