MedWire News: Type 2 diabetic patients with increased participation in physical activity have lower healthcare costs than their peers who do less exercise, suggest study results.
With a view to assessing the benefits of exercise on healthcare expenditure in patients with diabetes, Romulo Fernandes (UNESP Univ Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, Brazil) and colleagues carried out a cross-sectional study of 121 Brazilian Type 2 diabetic patients, aged 60.1 years on average.
The team measured various anthropomorphic characteristics, as well as physical activity levels, which were assessed by questionnaire. The survey consisted of 16 questions and was scored using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from "never" to "sometimes" to "very often."
Fernandes and team found that patients who participated in higher levels of physical activity (moderately active to active) incurred consistently lower public healthcare expenditure than those who were sedentary, by approximately 8.5%.
The researchers explain that this decrease in cost could largely be accounted for by a reduction in the use of medicines for treatment of conditions other than Type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] associated with higher exercise=0.19) and a decline in the number of medical consultations requested by these patients (OR=0.26).
These two factors combined represent around 12% of the overall cost related to preventive services for diabetes in Brazil.
"Therefore, habitual physical activity promotion could be an important strategy for healthcare systems to decrease costs associated with the treatment of diabetes and its comorbidities," write Fernandes and co-authors in the journal BMC Public Health.
The team cautions that their study has limitations, including its cross-sectional design and a lack of information on the cost of both hospitalizations and other diabetic complications. The researchers suggest that further investigation is needed to confirm causality.
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2011
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