Do Older People with Diabetes Meet the Recommended Weekly Physical Activity Targets? an Analysis of Objective Physical Activity Data

ABSTRACT: Appropriate management of diabetes mellitus (DM) includes following a healthy lifestyle in which reaching physical activity (PA) recommendations is an important factor. De-spite this, it remains unclear whether people with DM meet the recommended PA targets. We therefore aimed to investigate the proportion of older adults with DM (Type 1 and 2) engaging in the recommended amount of PA per week in a cross-sectional study. PA levels were objectively measured using the GT1M ActiGraph accelerometer for seven consecutive days and the cut-off of 150 minutes of moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) was used. To assess the relationship between not meeting the recommendation for, and significant factors associated with PA level (MVPA <150 minutes/week), a multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied. 197 diabetic participants (mean age=66.8 years; 46.7% males) spent only 74.5±94.4 minutes/weekly in MVPA and only 39 (=19.8%) reached the cut-off for sufficient PA level. Significant correlates of not meeting the recommendation for PA levels were female sex, depressive symptoms and age. In conclusion, only one-fifth of diabetic people reached the recommended amount of PA, suggesting that more intervention is needed to increase PA levels in this population.