• S F Lee, D Pei, M J Chi, and C Jeng.
• Cardinal Tien College of Healthcare & Management, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2015 Oct 1; 69 (10): 1159-70.

BackgroundModerately intensive aerobic exercise can improve glucose metabolism and pancreatic β cell function in diabetic patients. To date, there is no evidence to support the long-term effectiveness of home-based exercise interventions on these outcomes.ObjectiveThis study investigated the effectiveness of two moderately intense exercise programmes on glucose metabolism and pancreatic β cell function in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients.MethodsA randomised controlled trial of 120 T2DM patients (with a mean age of 55.54 ± 9.09 years) was conducted. Patients were assigned by block randomisation to either an aerobic exercise group (AEG), an accumulated million steps group (AMSG), or a control group (CG); each consisting of 40 patients. Glucose metabolism and pancreatic β cell function of patients were measured at three time intervals for 1 year.ResultsThere was no difference in baseline scores, and respective compliance rates for the AEG and AMSG were 94.4% and 99.2%. After generalised estimating equation analysis, the AMSG results for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) were significantly lower than those of the CG. The insulinogenic index-acute insulin response (BIGTT-AIR ) of both exercise groups was significantly higher than that of the CG. The AMSG group improved their overall HbA1c and BIGTT-AIR results compared with the AEG group after 3 months exercise programme (T1 ) and 12 months of implementation (T2 ).ConclusionThis study demonstrates that regardless of the type of exercise intervention, it is potentially beneficially effective for glucose metabolism and pancreatic β cell function in T2DM patients. The AMSG had better glucose metabolism and pancreatic β cell function compared with those in the AEG. Nurses can easily integrate exercise interventions into T2DM patient care plans.© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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