| dc.description.abstract | Physical inactivity (PA) is a modifiable risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).
Falls is a major concern for older adults with T2DM. This study aimed to identify the
association between PA and falls in older adults with T2DM attending to selected hospitals
in Colombo district. In this cross-sectional study, 180 participants with T2DM, aged 60
years and above were recruited using non probability sampling. Demographic data and
retrospective falls in previous 12 months were assessed using interviewer administered
questionnaire. International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) was
used to assess physical activity. Descriptive statistics, spearman correlation test and
Mann Whitney U test were used for data analysis in SPSS version 20.0. Among 180
T2DM participants (mean age=66.61 5.35 years), 38.3% (n=69) were males and 61.7%
(n=111) were females. Mean weekly energy expenditure for total PA was 1567.78 ( 1216.99)
metabolic equivalent of task (MET) minutes per week. Among 180 participants 20%
(n=36) were physically inactive, while 68.9% (n=124) were moderately active and 11.1%
(n=20) were highly active. Approximately, 22% of T2DM patients experienced falls
during previous 12 months and 59.2% of falls resulted in injuries. Total PA of nonfallers
(median=1359.0MET- minutes/week) was significantly higher than total PA of fallers
(median=972.0MET-minutes/week, p=0.022). There was a significant negative relationship
between PA and number of falls (p=0.021, r=-0.172). Majority of the T2DM older
adults were physically inactive or moderately active. Physical inactivity leads to increase
in fall rate in older adults with T2DM. | en_US |
