RESPONSE
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Breaking up prolonged sitting in people with type 2 diabetes: Optimising the response
IRAS ID
281671
Contact name
Tom Yates
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liecester
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN00038685
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 30 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Spending a large amount of time sitting during the day, and particularly in prolonged unbroken bouts is known to have a negative impact on blood sugar levels. The good news is that regularly breaking up sitting time by doing simple activities, such as standing, stretching, etc. for a few minutes can be very effective at improving blood sugar levels as well as many other aspects of health such as the ability to perform daily tasks, heart health, and risk of developing foot ulcers. For example, in people with type 2 diabetes, research has shown that doing simple activities every 30 minutes for 3 minutes over a 6-8-hour period significantly improves glucose control. We want to expand on this research by asking people with type 2 diabetes to take part in a 4-week programme designed to regularly break up sitting time throughout the day with a variety of simple activities. We want to test how well this programme works for improving blood glucose levels and various other indicators of your overall health.
The study will take place at Leicester Diabetes Center within Leicester General Hospital and involves a baseline visit, an 8-day monitoring period of participants' free-living activity and blood glucose, one experimental visit, a 4-week intervention, and a final follow up visit. The baseline and follow-up visits will involve various assessments including a 180-minute response to a meal, blood sampling, various physical function assessments, and questionnaires. The experimental visit will involve 5.5 hours of sitting interrupted every 20-minutes with one of sixteen 2-minute activity breaks. Enjoyment, difficulty, muscle activation, pain, and energy expenditure will be measured during each break. The intervention will involve personalised guidance on breaking up sitting time over 4-weeks and will be supported by regular face-to-face or telephone sessions with the research team.
Summary of Results
The intervention appeared to reduce sitting time and bodyweight, and improve various markers of physical function. This study demonstrated that a personalised, remotely delivered, coaching intervention may be effective in reducing sitting time and eliciting improvements in bodyweight and physical function in people with type 2 diabetes. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions highlighted the need for an overhaul of preconceptions around the delivery of lifestyle interventions. Future research in this area should focus on the development of large RCTs to confirm the effects of reducing prolonged sitting on physical function in people with type 2 diabetes.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/1102
Date of REC Opinion
19 Nov 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion