Diabetes Mellitus Diagnosis Differences Between Students With Long and Short Sport Hours: An Independent-samples t-Test Report

Background: The global prevalence of diabetes mellitus has raised significant public health concerns, with preventive strategies focusing on modifiable risk factors such as physical activity. As a physiotherapy student with cross-cultural educational experience in both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western exercise physiology, I developed a particular research interest in exploring the relationship between exercise duration and diabetes indicators. This interest was further motivated by personal family health concerns, as my father has been identified as a potential diabetic patient with Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) levels fluctuating between 6.8-7.3 mmol/L. Objective: This study aimed to statistically determine whether students who engage in longer sports activities demonstrate significantly lower fasting blood glucose levels compared to those with shorter exercise durations. Methods: Employing an independent-samples t-test design, this research analyzed fasting blood glucose levels between two distinct groups: students exercising more than 5 hours per day (n=6) and those exercising less than 3 hours daily (n=8). The analysis was conducted with a significance level of α=0.05, using a one-tailed test based on theoretical expectations that longer exercise duration would correlate with improved glucose metabolism. Results: The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference between groups (t(12)=5.63, p<0.05), with a large effect size (Cohen's d=3.04). Students in the high-exercise group showed substantially lower fasting blood glucose levels compared to their low-exercise counterparts. Conclusion: The findings provide compelling evidence supporting the beneficial role of regular prolonged exercise in maintaining healthy glucose metabolism. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on exercise as a non-pharmacological intervention for diabetes prevention and management, while also establishing a foundation for future doctoral research in exercise physiology and metabolic disorders.