‘Stepping up’ exercise for type 2 diabetes: a stepped care approach to lifestyle therapy
The current physical activity guidelines recommend a time commitment of between 150-300 min/week. These recommendations are based on evidence that aerobic exercise improves fitness in general, and in Type 2 Diabetes, leads to better blood glucose control, which can be very beneficial. However, there is considerable inter-individual variability in weight loss and glucose benefit in response to exercise in adults with Type 2 Diabetes. Therefore, the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to exercise prescription, is inadequate, leaving some people without health benefits.
To address the critical issue of individual responsiveness to exercise and to develop strategies that can translate into clinical care pathways, but still be based on best evidence, we will evaluate the feasibility of an individualised approach to exercise prescription by employing a ‘stepped care’ model. This tailored solution should ultimately optimise health outcomes in a greater proportion of individuals, compared with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy.
In one group you will be initially asked to perform 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise for 8 weeks, based on your preferences, for example- jogging, cycling, walking, or swimming. This will be the first step of exercise prescription.
Depending on your health responses (specifically, change in your body weight and change in your glucose control), you may be asked to next undertake Step 2- which is 8 more weeks of exercise at a higher level, and again, depending on your response to Step 2, you may be asked to then undertake a third step, which involves 8 weeks of an even higher level of exercise. At each 8 week Step, people who respond in a certain way will continue with that level of exercise. In the second group, you will be given exercise advice and an activity monitor and will complete your program at home, with follow up assessments at weeks 8, 16 and 24.
These assessments will be conducted at the School of Human Movements and Nutritional Sciences at UQ's St Lucia campus.
Participant benefits:
Participants will receive the following FREE benefits:
- personalised training plan
- expert advice from Allied Health Professionals
- body composition assessment (fat mass, lean mass, abdominal fat, liver fat),
- FITBIT Charge 3 smartwatch (valued at $189)
- fitness test
- heart health
- blood vessel assessment
- parking at The University of Queensland for the days of the assessments.
Eligibility:
Males or females aged 25-69, confirmed type 2 diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%), waist circumference ≥ 80cm for women and ≥ 94cm for men, own a smartphone and to be willing to wear a Fitbit activity monitor for the duration of the study.
Register your interest:
Please contact Klaus Jungbluth at k.jungbluthrodriguez@uq.net.au or Shelley Keating at s.keating@uq.edu.au.
This study has been approved by The University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee [Approval No. 2019002514]