Factors Associated with Meeting Current Recommendation for Physical Activity in Scottish Adults with Diabetes.

Ahmad Salman,Kingsley Nnanna Ukwaja,Ahmad Alkhatib

doi:10.3390/ijerph16203857

Abstract

It remains unclear which factors are instrumental in meeting the recommended physical activity in people with diabetes. We, therefore, aimed to determine the sociodemographic, health-related behavior and clinical factors associated with meeting the recommended levels of physical activity in Scottish adults with diabetes. The study was based on the nationally-representative cross-sectional Scottish Health Surveys (2014–2017). The study participants included a sub-sample of 1259 adults (≥16 years old) with diabetes. Physical activity was evaluated using international guidelines. Overall, 34.1% of the subjects met the recommended levels of physical activity. Independent determinants of meeting the recommended levels of physical activity include male gender (odds ratio (OR) 1.47; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07–2.00) and being a non-smoker (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.02–2.56). Furthermore, meeting the recommended physical activity levels decreased with age (OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.95–0.97), having a longstanding illness (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.34–0.93) and body mass index (OR 0.94; 95% CI 0.92–0.97), but increased with higher fruit and vegetable intake (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.07–1.25) and mental wellbeing (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.02–1.06). Implementation of health promotion programs that target the identified determinants is needed to improve the recommended levels of physical activity among adults with diabetes.

Highlights

The prevalence of diabetes in individuals over 18 years of age increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5%in 2014 with the number of affected adults increasing from 108 million to 422 million people [1,2,3].A recent estimate in 2018 indicated there are over 500 million cases of type 2 diabetes globally, and that the burden of the disease is comparable between developed and developing countries [2]
We found that age was inversely associated with meeting the recommended levels of physical activity and that older adults with diabetes are at higher risk of reduced physical activity levels
We found that the presence of medical conditions like having a longstanding illness or a cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) were independent predictors of not meeting the recommended levels of physical activity among patients with diabetes

Summary

Introduction

The prevalence of diabetes in individuals over 18 years of age increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5%in 2014 with the number of affected adults increasing from 108 million to 422 million people [1,2,3].A recent estimate in 2018 indicated there are over 500 million cases of type 2 diabetes globally, and that the burden of the disease is comparable between developed and developing countries [2]. The prevalence of diabetes in individuals over 18 years of age increased from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5%. Health Organization (WHO) estimated that diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in 2016, with an estimated 1.6 million deaths being directly caused by diabetes and an additional 2.2 million deaths being attributable to elevated blood glucose [3]. Maintaining a healthy diet, adequate physical activity, body weight reduction and avoiding tobacco smoking or its cessation are lifestyle factors that could help lower the risk or delay the onset of diabetes [3]. Self-management of diabetes is a complex process that involves regular assessment and monitoring of blood glucose, use of medications like insulin and other anti-diabetic medications, monitoring of carbohydrate intake, regular physical activity adherence, making adjustments to these factors Public Health 2019, 16, 3857; doi:10.3390/ijerph16203857 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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