Response to a Supervised Structured Aerobic Exercise Training Program in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus - Does Gender Make a Difference? A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Objective: Because of the globally increasing occurrence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the population, exercise is becoming vitally important for prevention and disease management, along with medical and dietary interventions. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that women with DM would respond similarly to men with DM following supervised structured aerobic exercise training (SSAET) program.

Methods: This randomized, single blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted on 102 patients with T2DM with ranging in age from 40 to 70 years. All the participants were randomly allocated to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group participated in an SSAET program, routine medication, and dietary plan, while the control group was treated with routine medication and dietary plan, for 25 weeks. Assessments of physical and biochemical variables were carried out at baseline and after 25 weeks' intervention and gender-based response to the SSAET program was analyzed.

Results: Both the male and female patients responded to 25 weeks of SSAET, routine medication, and dietary plan equally in the experimental group, whereas in the control group IL-6 and NOS-1 showed slight differences. All male and female patients in the experimental group treated with SSAET, routine medication, and dietary plan showed significant improvement in all variables (P < 0.05), while in the control group, deterioration or no change was noted except in HDL and LDL.

Conclusion: SSAET is equally effective in both male and female patients with T2DM when compared with a non-exercise control group, but no gender-based difference was found. (Trial ID ISRCTN16466697/ http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6682-9896).