Habitual Physical Activity of People with or at Risk of Diabetes-Related Foot Complications #DiabeticFoot #ActAgainstAmputation

Here is an excellent addition to the literature helping us further measure what we manage.

1. The study aimed to describe the habitual physical activity of people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in regional Australia. It involved 22 participants, 11 with a history of ulceration and 11 without.
2. Participants wore a triaxial accelerometer on their non-dominant wrist for 14 days. The median minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were 9.7, while participants recorded an average of 280 ± 78 min of low-intensity physical activity and 689 ± 114 min of sedentary behaviour.
3. The sample accumulated on average 30 min of slow walking and 2 min of fast walking per day. Overall, participants spent very little time performing MVPA and were largely sedentary.
4. The study found that participants were insufficiently active with high amounts of sedentary behaviours, and they slept for shorter durations than recommended. The median accelerations of the most active continuous 2, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, and 480 min were 223 mg, 179 mg, 151 mg, 102 mg, 79 mg, 54 mg, and 18 mg, respectively.
5. The study concluded that it is important that strategies are put in place for people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in order to increase their physical activity significantly in accordance with established guidelines.

Abstract

Regular physical activity is an important component of diabetes management. However, there are limited data on the habitual physical activity of people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications. The aim of this study was to describe the habitual physical activity of people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in regional Australia. Twenty-three participants with diabetes from regional Australia were recruited with twenty-two participants included in subsequent analyses: no history of ulcer (N = 11) and history of ulcer (N = 11). Each participant wore a triaxial accelerometer (GT3X+; ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA) on their non-dominant wrist for 14 days. There were no significant differences between groups according to both participant characteristics and physical activity outcomes. Median minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were 9.7 (IQR: 1.6–15.7) while participants recorded an average of 280 ± 78 min of low-intensity physical activity and 689 ± 114 min of sedentary behaviour. The sample accumulated on average 30 min of slow walking and 2 min of fast walking per day, respectively. Overall, participants spent very little time performing MVPA and were largely sedentary. It is important that strategies are put in place for people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in order that they increase their physical activity significantly in accordance with established guidelines.

Keywords: 

diabetes; diabetic foot; peripheral neuropathy; physical activity; exercise