Impact of Physiotherapist-Designed Supervised Exercise Protocol on Muscle Strength, and Autonomic Parameters in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Trial

Background and Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by variable degree of insulin resistance, impaired insulin secretion, and increased glucose production. Physical activity is central to the management type 2 diabetes. There is less evidence to suggest the efficacy of combined effect of physiotherapist- designed supervised exercise protocol on muscle strength and autonomic parameters in such subjects. Hence, the present study was designed to evaluate effect of physiotherapist designed supervised exercise protocol of muscle strength and autonomic parameters in this subject population. Material and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted in thirty (30) adult subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus including both males and females in the age group of 18 to 65 years. All subjects received physiotherapist designed supervised exercise training protocol consisting of aerobic, resistance & flexibility training. Preexercise and post-exercise outcome measurements were taken at baseline, 7th & 14th day in the form of 1-RM for muscle strength and autonomic parameters. Results: Statistical analysis of outcomes at baseline, 7th day and 14th day showed statistically significant difference in strength (p=0.0001), and reduction in autonomic parameters (p=0.0001) Conclusion: The therapist designed exercise protocol has shown to improve muscle strength , mean systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure, rate pressure product. The protocol has also proved to be safe since no adverse event was noted post exercise.