Physical activity and its influencing factors in patients with diabetes mellitus: a comparative study between China and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Objective: To compare the differences in low-level physical activity (PA) and related influencing factors in patients with diabetes mellitus in China and the United Kingdom (UK). Methods: Using baseline survey data from the China Kadoorie Biobank and the UK Biobank, we analyzed the association between diabetes mellitus and low-level PA using logistic regression, with the participants' self-reported whether they had diabetes mellitus as the independent variable, and low-level PA as the dependent variable. Results: We included 509 254 Chinese adults and 359 763 British adults in the analysis. After adjusting for multiple factors, we found that both Chinese and British patients with diabetes mellitus were at elevated risk for low-level PA, with corresponding ORs (95%CIs) of 1.15 (1.12-1.19) and 1.37 (1.32-1.41), respectively. Patients with diabetes mellitus with longer disease duration and poorer glycemic control were at greater risk of having low-level of PA. Female, rural-distributed, employed, never-smoking Chinese diabetics, and male, urban-distributed, retired/unemployed, quit-smoking British diabetics were more likely to have low-level PA. Conclusions: Chinese and British patients with diabetes mellitus were more likely to have low-level PA compared with the general population, but the risk of low-level PA for patients in both countries varied by population characteristics. Therefore, PA guidelines and intervention measures should be based on the characteristics of individuals in the target countries and regions, which could improve PA levels among patients with diabetes mellitus.