ABSTRACT
Background: The Diabetes College Brazil Study (NCT03914924) is a pioneer randomized clinical trial designed to promote behavioral changes in adults living with prediabetes and diabetes. Method(s): A single-center randomized pilot study involving a 12-week exercise intervention aiming the participants accumulate at least 150 min of aerobic exercise and two sessions of resistance exercise per week with a 6-month follow-up after the intervention. The follow-up objective was to support the participants in maintaining the health benefits arising from the intervention through monthly structured phone calls. Physical activity (PA) level (seven days using a pedometer), exercise self-efficacy (Bandura's Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale), and quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey) were assessed at pre, post-intervention (PI), and post-follow-up (PF). Variables measured in the PI and PF were compared by unpaired t-test. The aerobic exercise time in minutes/week was collected during monthly phone calls and compared by ANOVA. The weekly frequency of resistance exercise sessions was also collected and analyzed by absolute frequencies. The association between the interest variables was analyzed using the Pearson correlation test. Result(s): Of 21 participants who were assessed at PF, 12 answered all phone calls along with follow-up (75% male, 57.4 +/- 10.7 years, 8.3% prediabetes, 41.6% Type 1 diabetes, and 50% Type 2 diabetes) and were included in this study. There was no significant difference between the values obtained in the PI and PF for PA level (41947+/-28868 vs. 49915+/-33054 total steps/week, 5992+/-4124 vs. 7131+/-4722 average steps/day;P=0.09), exercise self-efficacy (65.6+/-13.1 vs. 71.8+/-22.3;P=0.31), physical health (82.7+/-22,84.1 vs. 81.4+/-20.5;P=0.64) and mental health (65.9+/-40.7 vs. 70,5+/-38,4;P=0.70) components of quality of life, revealing maintenance of the exercise intervention benefits after six months. Most participants aerobically exercised above 150 min/week in moderate-intensity during the follow-up, with no change in average exercise time over the six months (225.0+/-154.8, 197.0+/-133.9, 235.0+/-143.9, 142.0+/-102.6, 174.0+/-177.5 minutes/week;P=0.12). The proportion of participants who maintained resistance exercise were 41%, 58%, 66%, 50%, and 50%, and the average weekly frequency was more than three times a week during the follow-up. The average minutes of aerobic exercise/week during the follow-up was moderately correlated with total steps/week (r=0.59, P=0.06) and with mental (r=0.49, P=0.12) and physical (r=0.49, P=0.12) health components of quality of life, and strongly correlated with exercise self-efficacy (r=0.63, P=0.04). Conclusion(s): Participants maintained the health benefits of the intervention at the six-month follow-up, despite the social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.