To evaluate the impact of physiotherapist-guided exercise supported by wearable device feedback on exercise capacity and health outcomes in outpatients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic kidney disease over a 6-month period.
Key Findings:
The intervention group improved their 6-minute walk distance from 512 m to 551 m, a gain of 39 m.
The nonintervention group showed a decline in 6-minute walk distance from 410 m to 407 m.
Glycated hemoglobin decreased by 0.89 percentage points in the intervention group.
No significant difference in estimated glomerular filtration rate was observed between groups.
Interpretation:
Physiotherapist-led exercise guidance with wearable feedback improved exercise capacity and metabolic outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes, but did not show short-term benefits for kidney function; secondary outcomes were exploratory and not formally adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Limitations:
Single-center, nonrandomized design with a modest sample size.
Potential selection bias due to differences in patient motivation.
Lack of a physiotherapist-guided group without wearable feedback.
Absence of detailed longitudinal activity data for quantitative analysis, preventing dose-response assessment.
Conclusion:
In outpatients with type 2 diabetes, physiotherapist-led exercise guidance incorporating wearable feedback improved exercise capacity and metabolic health, but no short-term renal protective effects were observed.
