Diet-Related Knowledge and Physical Activity in a Large Cohort of Insulin-Treated Type 2 Diabetes Patients: PROGENS ARENA Study

الملخص EN

There is no doubt that behavioral intervention is crucial for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevention and management.

We aimed to estimate dietary habits and diet-oriented knowledge as well as the level of physical activity in 2500 insulin-treated Polish type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients (55.4% women).

The mean age of the study participants was 64.9 ± 9.3 years, mean BMI was 31.4 kg/m2 ± 4.5, mean diabetes duration was 12.4 ± 6.9 years, and mean baseline HbA1c was 8.5% ± 1.2.

At the study onset, all the patients completed a questionnaire concerning health-oriented behavior.

Results showed a significant lack of diet-related knowledge.

For example, only 37.5% recognized that buckwheat contains carbohydrates; the percentage of correct answers in questions about fruit drinks and pasta was 56.4% and 61.2%, respectively.

As for the physical activity, only 57.4% of examined T2DM patients declared any form of deliberate physical activity.

To conclude, the cohort of poorly controlled insulin-treated T2DM patients studied by us is characterized by insufficient diet-related knowledge and by a very low level of physical activity.

Further studies on other populations of insulin-treated T2DM patients are required to confirm these findings.