Exercise training and quality of life in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial

To establish whether exercise improves quality of life (QOL) in individuals with type 2 diabetes and which exercise modalities are involved.

Health Benefits of Aerobic and Resistance Training in individuals with type 2 Diabetes (HART-D; n = 262) was a 9-month exercise study comparing the effects of aerobic training, resistance training, or a combination of resistance and aerobic training versus a nonexercise control group on hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in sedentary individuals with type 2 diabetes. This study is an ancillary analysis that examined changes in QOL after exercise training using the Short Form-36 Health Survey questionnaire compared across treatment groups and with U.S. national norms.

The ancillary sample (n = 173) had high baseline QOL compared with U.S. national norms. The QOL physical component subscale (PCS) and the general health (GH) subscale were improved by all three exercise training conditions compared with the control group condition (resistance: PCS, P = 0.005; GH, P = 0.003; aerobic: PCS, P = 0.001; GH, P = 0.024; combined: PCS, P = 0.015; GH, P = 0.024). The resistance training group had the most beneficial changes in bodily pain (P = 0.026), whereas physical functioning was most improved in the aerobic and combined condition groups (P = 0.025 and P = 0.03, respectively). The changes in the mental component score did not differ between the control group and any of the exercise groups (all P > 0.05). The combined training condition group had greater gains than the aerobic training condition group in the mental component score (P = 0.004), vitality (P = 0.031), and mental health (P = 0.008) and greater gains in vitality compared with the control group (P = 0.021).

Exercise improves QOL in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Combined aerobic/resistance exercise produces greater benefit in some QOL domains.