Background: Many people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are sedentary despite strong recommendations of regular physical activity (PA). Objective measures of PA provide accurate reflection of daily PA level. The purpose of this review was to analyze studies used pedometers or accelerometers to determine the outcome of interventions promoted daily PA in people with T2D.
Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted using the PubMed and CINAHL databases (2000-2016), with search terms: sedentary, diabetes, pedometer, physical activity, and accelerometer. Only peer-reviewed, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that used objective measurement of daily PA level were included. All studies design, participant characteristics, intervention, and key findings were evaluated systematically and summarized.
Results: A total of 15 RCTs were identified investigated objectively measured daily PA in people with T2D. A significant increase in PA was found following exercise consultation, behavioral/cognitive consultation, continuous glucose monitoring counseling, and motivational phone calls promoting PA. However, this increase in daily PA level was evident only during the intervention period.
Conclusions: Our systematic review of the literature indicated that a variety of interventions approaches were effective in increasing PA temporarily during the intervention period. Interventions that use objective methods in measuring PA and have long term improvement in overall PA are needed.
Keywords: accelerometer; pedometer; sedentary.