The Relation Between Physical Activity and Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetes With <20 Years of Evolution
- Pedro de Pablos-Velasco, MD, PHD1,
- Wilfredo Ricart, MD, PHD2,
- Susana Monereo, MD3,
- Basilio Moreno, MD, PHD4,
- Jaume Marrugat, MD, PHD, FESC5 and
- on behalf of the KAREN Investigators
- 1Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Doctor Negrín, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
- 2Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Trueta, Gerona, Spain
- 3Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Getafe, Madrid, Spain
- 4Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, Spain
- 5Unit of Lipid and Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institut Municipal d’Investigació Mèdica (IMIM) and Universitat Autónoma School of Medicine, Barcelona, Spain
Obesity and reduced levels of physical activity are directly associated with the insulin resistance that characterizes type 2 diabetes (1,2). Physical activity is one of the cornerstones of type 2 diabetes management (3). Few large studies have assessed the impact of intensity and quality of exercise on metabolic control in these patients, and the influence of age on the metabolic response to physical activity is still controversial (4). We conducted the Intervention on Key Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes National Study (KAREN), a country-based case-control study nested in a survey of 1,485 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients treated by 208 endocrinologists across Spain to assess the impact of physical activity on metabolic control. Patient risk factors, history characteristics, medication and diet compliance, glycemia, fasting HbA1c, and lipids were determined.
Patient characteristics are presented in Table 1 by quartile of physical activity. After adjustment for age, sex, triglycerides, BMI, and diet compliance, patients in the lowest quartile of physical activity had an …
