OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to examine whether the use of a tri-axial accelerometer can reduce sedentary time and increase non-locomotive physical activity (N-LPA), and to investigate the effect of this intervention on parameters of glucose and fat metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients with type 2 diabetes (age 61.8 +/- 1.4 years, BMI 24.8 +/- 0.6, HbA1c 6.6 +/- 0.1%) participated in this 12-week randomized controlled study, and 31 patients were included in the final analyses. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, N-LPA or locomotive physical activity (LPA). Patients in the N-LPA and LPA groups were asked to increase their N-LPA and LPA, respectively, using tri-axial accelerometer feedback. Glucose and fat metabolic parameters were evaluated before and after 12-week intervention. RESULTS: Only the N-LPA intervention significantly reduced sedentary time (p < 0.05) and increased N-LPA (p < 0.05). However, these changes were insufficient to improve parameters associated with glucose and fat metabolism (p > 0.05), despite a significant positive correlation between the change in sedentary time and HbA1c levels (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results showed that the N-LPA intervention using a tri-axial accelerometer successfully reduced sedentary time in patients with type 2 diabetes, however that induced no significant improvement of glucose and fat metabolism. Further research is required to determine the degree of reduction in sedentary time and increase in N-LPA needed to improve glucose and fat metabolism.
Abstract reprinted with permission from The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.

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