Correlates of accelerometer-assessed physical activity and sedentary time among adults with type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to describe the volume and patterns of objectively assessed sedentary behaviour, light intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and to examine socio-demographic correlates, among adults living with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Participants (n = 166) wore an accelerometer (Actigraph® GT3X+) for seven consecutive days during waking hours and completed a questionnaire. Physical activity (PA) and sedentary time were described, and multivariable linear regression was used to estimate associations between sociodemographic characteristics and sedentary time and PA. RESULTS: Participants, 46%of whom were female, had a mean age of 65.4 years (standard deviation (SD) = 9.5), body mass index (BMI) of 31.5 (6.6) kg/m² and had been living with diabetes for an average of 13.1 (7.6) years. Participants were sedentary for 543.6 minutes/day, spent 273.4 minutes/day and 22.4 minutes/day in LPA and MVPA respectively. BMI was associated with increased sedentary time and reduced LPA (−2.5 minutes/day, 95% CI: −4.33 to −0.70) and MVPA (−0.62 minutes/day, 95% CI: −1.05 to −0.18) time. Compared with males, females had more LPA (34.4 minutes/day, 95% CI: 10.21–58.49) and less MVPA (−6.2 minutes/day, 95% CI: −12.04 to −0.41) time. Unemployed participants had 30.05 minutes more MVPA (95% CI: 3.35–56.75) than those who were employed or homemakers, and those not reporting income had 13 minutes/day more MVPA time than participants in the lowest income category (95% CI: 3.46–22.40). CONCLUSION: Adults living with type 2 diabetes were not sufficiently active and were highly sedentary. Our results emphasize the need for more research exploring the diabetes-related health outcomes of sedentary behaviour and physical inactivity among people living with type 2 diabetes.