Effects of relocation of sedentary time and physical activity in older adults with diabetes mellitus

ObjectiveTo estimate the hypothetical effects of substituting time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and time spent in sedentary behavior (SB) and their associations with diabetes.MethodsA cross-sectional study using exploratory survey methods was performed in Alcobaca city in the state of Bahia, Brazil in the year 2015. A total of 473 older adults (aged >= 60 years) participated in the study. Diabetes mellitus, time MVPA, and SB were assessed in a self-reported manner. The Poisson regression was used to verify the hypothetical effects of the substitution of MVPA with SB on diabetes.ResultsThe substitution of the time in MVPA with time in SB showed higher prevalence ratios of diabetes. Conversely, the substitution of the time in SB proved to be a protective factor, with risks reduced by between 4% and 19%.DiscussionThe substitution of the time spent in MVPA with the same amount of time spent on SB can lead to an increase in the probability of diabetes, and a longer reallocation time corresponded to a greater risk. The study suggests that the isotemporal substitution model indicates that small changes, such as the reallocation of 10 min of exposure to SB (sedentary behavior) to MVPA (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), are able to reduce the chance of diabetes mellitus, while the reallocation of time spent in MVPA to SB increases the chance. Furthermore, a longer relocation time corresponded to greater observed effects.