Habitual Physical Activity of People with or at Risk of Diabetes-Related Foot Complications

Byron M Perrin; Dimitri Diacogiorgis; Courtney Sullivan; James Gerrard; Isabelle Skinner; Timothy C Skinner; Rashmika Nawaratne; Damminda Alahakoon; Michael I C Kingsley

doi:10.3390/s23135822

Habitual Physical Activity of People with or at Risk of Diabetes-Related Foot Complications

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Jun 22;23(13):5822. doi: 10.3390/s23135822.

Authors

Byron M Perrin^{1

2}, Dimitri Diacogiorgis³, Courtney Sullivan^{1

2}, James Gerrard⁴, Isabelle Skinner¹, Timothy C Skinner⁵, Rashmika Nawaratne⁶, Damminda Alahakoon⁶, Michael I C Kingsley^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3552, Australia.
² Holsworth Research Initiative, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3550, Australia.
³ Grampians Health Ballarat, Ballarat 3350, Australia.
⁴ Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Mparntwe (Alice Springs) 0870, Australia.
⁵ School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3552, Australia.
⁶ Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition, La Trobe University, Bundoora 3086, Australia.
⁷ Department of Exercise Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand.

Abstract

Regular physical activity is an important component of diabetes management. However, there are limited data on the habitual physical activity of people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications. The aim of this study was to describe the habitual physical activity of people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in regional Australia. Twenty-three participants with diabetes from regional Australia were recruited with twenty-two participants included in subsequent analyses: no history of ulcer (N = 11) and history of ulcer (N = 11). Each participant wore a triaxial accelerometer (GT3X+; ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA) on their non-dominant wrist for 14 days. There were no significant differences between groups according to both participant characteristics and physical activity outcomes. Median minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were 9.7 (IQR: 1.6-15.7) while participants recorded an average of 280 ± 78 min of low-intensity physical activity and 689 ± 114 min of sedentary behaviour. The sample accumulated on average 30 min of slow walking and 2 min of fast walking per day, respectively. Overall, participants spent very little time performing MVPA and were largely sedentary. It is important that strategies are put in place for people with or at risk of diabetes-related foot complications in order that they increase their physical activity significantly in accordance with established guidelines.

Keywords: diabetes; diabetic foot; exercise; peripheral neuropathy; physical activity.

MeSH terms

Accelerometry
Diabetes Complications*
Diabetes Mellitus*
Exercise
Humans
Sedentary Behavior
Walking

Grants and funding

This study was supported by a grant from the La Trobe University Lower Extremity and Gait Studies program and Holsworth Research Initiative of La Trobe University. The funding source was not involved in conducting the research or preparation of the article. We acknowledge the support of the Bendigo Tertiary Education Anniversary Foundation and Holsworth Research Initiative for Professor Kingsley’s research.