Leisure Time Physical Activity Is Associated With Poor Glycemic Control in Type 1 Diabetic Women: The FinnDiane study

Clinical Care/Education/Nutrition

Leisure Time Physical Activity Is Associated With Poor Glycemic Control in Type 1 Diabetic Women

¹Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
²Department of Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
³Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Per-Henrik Groop, Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 8, P.O. Box 63, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: per-henrik.groop{at}helsinki.fi

Diabetes Care 2005 Apr; 28(4): 777-782. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.28.4.777

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Figure 1—
HbA_1c in women by reported change in LTPA during last 10 years. ○, all women; •, women without complications. *P ≤ 0.01 vs. decreased markedly (all women).

Table 1—

Clinical characteristics by level of LTPA

	Sedentary	Moderately active	Active
Men/women	131/116*	246/322	105/110†
Age (years)	38 ± 11	38 ± 12	37 ± 12
Duration of diabetes (years)	22 ± 12	22 ± 12	22 ± 12
BMI (kg/m²)	25.6 ± 3.5	25.1 ± 3.4	24.8 ± 3.0†
Waist-to-hip ratio
Men	0.92 ± 0.07	0.90 ± 0.06	0.91 ± 0.08‡
Women	0.83 ± 0.07	0.82 ± 0.07	0.81 ± 0.08
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	133 ± 17	131 ± 16	133 ± 18
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	79 ± 9	78 ± 9	79 ± 10
Serum cholesterol (mmol/l)	4.9 ± 0.9	4.9 ± 0.9	4.8 ± 1.0
Serum HDL cholesterol (mmol/l)	1.56 ± 0.45	1.66 ± 0.42	1.69 ± 0.60†
Diabetic nephropathy (%)	16	11	10‡
Cardiovascular disease (%)	3.3	4.8	4.3
Retinopathy (%, including background)	55	52	50
Current smokers (%)
Men	33	18	15†
Women	24	20	22
White-collar workers (%)
Men	30	39	35
Women	32	45	40

Table 2—

HbA_1c, insulin dose, and insulin sensitivity by level of LTPA

	Sedentary	Moderately active	Active	P
All patients (n = 1,030)
HbA_1c (%)
Women	8.8 ± 1.4*	8.3 ± 1.4	8.3 ± 1.4	0.004
Men	8.4 ± 1.3	8.2 ± 1.4	8.2 ± 1.3	0.844
Insulin (IU · kg⁻¹ · 24 h⁻¹)
Women	0.71 ± 0.22	0.71 ± 0.23†	0.66 ± 0.22	0.036
Men	0.74 ± 0.21†	0.71 ± 0.20	0.68 ± 0.23	0.003
eGDR (mg · kg⁻¹ · min⁻¹)
Women	6.8 (4.6–8.7)†	7.4 (5.3–9.2)	7.3 (5.5–9.2)	0.038
Men	4.7 (3.5–7.4)†	5.4 (3.9–8.1)	5.5 (4.0–8.0)	0.052
Without complications (n = 624)‡
HbA_1c (%)
Women	8.7 ± 1.4*	8.2 ± 1.3	8.2 ± 1.3	0.042
Men	8.3 ± 1.3	8.1 ± 1.4	8.1 ± 1.2	0.659
Insulin (IU · kg⁻¹ · 24 h⁻¹)
Women	0.72 ± 0.20	0.72 ± 0.24	0.67 ± 0.20	0.229
Men	0.76 ± 0.21†	0.74 ± 0.23	0.69 ± 0.23	0.013
eGDR (mg · kg⁻¹ · min⁻¹)
Women	8.0 (5.8–9.0)	8.3 (6.2–9.4)	8.5 (6.5–9.7)	0.191
Men	6.0 (4.1–8.2)	7.0 (4.6–8.4)	7.6 (5.1–8.5)	0.090

Data are means ± SD or median (interquartile range).
*
↵* P < 0.017 vs. moderately active;
†
↵† P < 0.017 vs. active;
‡
↵‡ excluding patients with elevated UAER, myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass, limb amputation, peripheral artery bypass, or stroke.

Table 3—

HbA_1c by components of LTPA for patients without complications

Data are means ± SD (%); n = 624. Percentages represent distribution of corresponding level of component of LTPA within each sex.
*
↵* P = 0.001 vs. moderate intensity;
†
↵† P = 0.001 vs. women with high LTPA intensity;
‡
↵‡ P = 0.002 vs. >2 times/week;
§
↵§ P = 0.001 vs. women with LTPA frequency >2 times/week;
‖
↵‖ P = 0.037 vs. women with LTPA duration >6 h/week.