IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0109767.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Walking on Glycemic Control and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Shanhu Qiu
  • Xue Cai
  • Uwe Schumann
  • Martina Velders
  • Zilin Sun
  • Jürgen Michael Steinacker

Abstract

Background: Walking is the most popular and most preferred exercise among type 2 diabetes patients, yet compelling evidence regarding its beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors is still lacking. The aim of this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was to evaluate the association between walking and glycemic control and other cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes patients. Methods: Three databases were searched up to August 2014. English-language RCTs were eligible for inclusion if they had assessed the walking effects (duration ≥8 weeks) on glycemic control or other cardiovascular risk factors among type 2 diabetes patients. Data were pooled using a random-effects model. Subgroup analyses based on supervision status and meta-regression analyses of variables regarding characteristics of participants and walking were performed to investigate their association with glycemic control. Results: Eighteen studies involving 20 RCTs (866 participants) were included. Walking significantly decreased glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) by 0.50% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: −0.78% to −0.21%). Supervised walking was associated with a pronounced decrease in HbA1c (WMD −0.58%, 95% CI: −0.93% to −0.23%), whereas non-supervised walking was not. Further subgroup analysis suggested non-supervised walking using motivational strategies is also effective in decreasing HbA1c (WMD −0.53%, 95% CI: −1.05% to −0.02%). Effects of covariates on HbA1c change were generally unclear. For other cardiovascular risk factors, walking significantly reduced body mass index (BMI) and lowered diastolic blood pressure (DBP), but non-significantly lowered systolic blood pressure (SBP), or changed high-density or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Conclusions: This meta-analysis supports that walking decreases HbA1c among type 2 diabetes patients. Supervision or the use of motivational strategies should be suggested when prescribed walking to ensure optimal glycemic control. Walking also reduces BMI and lowers DBP, however, it remains insufficient regarding the association of walking with lowered SBP or improved lipoprotein profiles. Trial Registration: PROSPERO CRD42014009515

Suggested Citation

  • Shanhu Qiu & Xue Cai & Uwe Schumann & Martina Velders & Zilin Sun & Jürgen Michael Steinacker, 2014. "Impact of Walking on Glycemic Control and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(10), pages 1-8, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0109767
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109767
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0109767
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0109767&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0109767?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kiwol Sung & Sangkeun Bae, 2012. "Effects of a regular walking exercise program on behavioral and biochemical aspects in elderly people with type II diabetes," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 438-445, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Igor Cigarroa & María José Espinoza-Sanhueza & Nicole Lasserre-Laso & Ximena Diaz-Martinez & Alex Garrido-Mendez & Carlos Matus-Castillo & María Adela Martinez-Sanguinetti & Ana Maria Leiva & Fanny Pe, 2020. "Association between Walking Pace and Diabetes: Findings from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-10, July.
    2. Dizon-Ross, Rebecca & Aggarwal, Shilpa & Zucker, Ariel, 2020. "Incentivizing Behavioral Change: The Role of Time Preferences," CEPR Discussion Papers 14751, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wipasiri Naraphong & Adrianne Lane & John Schafer & Kyra Whitmer & Bradley R. A. Wilson, 2015. "Exercise intervention for fatigue‐related symptoms in Thai women with breast cancer: A pilot study," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 33-41, March.
    2. Hee Young Jung & Haejung Lee & Jina Park, 2015. "Comparison of the effects of Korean mindfulness‐based stress reduction, walking, and patient education in diabetes mellitus," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 516-525, December.
    3. Ji‐Yan Cong & Yue Zhao & Qun‐Yan Xu & Chun‐De Zhong & Qiu‐Ling Xing, 2012. "Health‐related quality of life among Tianjin Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: A cross‐sectional survey," Nursing & Health Sciences, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 528-534, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0109767. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.