Gender differences in the relationship between anxiety symptoms and physical inactivity in a community-based sample...

To examine the association between physical inactivity and anxiety symptoms in a community-based sample of men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Eligibility criteria included residents of Quebec, Canada aged between 40 and 75 years, having a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (≤10 years), being insulin-naive and having participated in a previous telephone-based survey of diabetes treatments. Of the 2028 eligible respondents, 1953 (96.3%) provided information on anxiety symptoms and were included in this analysis. Participants were interviewed and provided information on diabetes-related clinical and sociodemographic factors.

A total of 27.3% of participants reported being physically inactive. The prevalence of mild to severe anxiety symptoms was 22.9%. Persons with mild anxiety symptoms and moderate to severe anxiety symptoms were 1.4 times and 1.7 times more likely to report being inactive than persons without anxiety symptoms, respectively. Subgroup analyses according to gender revealed that women who had mild anxiety symptoms were 1.5 times more likely to report being inactive compared with women who did not have anxiety symptoms, whereas men who had moderate to severe anxiety symptoms were 2.5 times more likely to be inactive than men who did not have anxiety symptoms.

Anxiety symptoms in the mild and moderate to severe range are a relevant clinical comorbidity in persons with type 2 diabetes, and men may represent a particularly vulnerable subgroup. Future research is recommended to further assess the relationship between anxiety symptoms and diabetes-related health behaviours.