Ferdinand Nsengimana^1,, Alain T. Yombouno²

Background: The number of persons with diabetes is expected to double, from 529 million in 2021 to 1.31 billion in 2050 with low and middle-income countries being the most affected by this increase. Although physical activity is a key to preventing or delaying the consequences of diabetes findings of studies conducted elsewhere indicate that persons with diabetes are less physically active compared to persons without diabetes. Objectives: To compare the level of physical activity between persons with and persons without diabetes in Kenya. Methods: This was a cross-sectional quantitative study using secondary data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program. The data were originally collected for the 2022 Kenya demographic and health survey. After computing summary statistics for the variables being analyzed, multivariate analysis of variance was done for the independent variable (diabetes status) and three outcome variables (number of days of exercise per week, number of minutes of exercise per week, and number of hours spent seated per day). Results: The mean number of exercise days per week as well as the mean number of exercise minutes per week is lower for people who have ever, than those who have never, been told that they have diabetes while the mean number of hours spent seated on a typical day is higher for people who have ever, than those who have never, been told that they have diabetes. There was no significant effect of knowing whether one has diabetes or not in terms of number of exercise days per week, number of minutes of exercise per week, and number of hours spent seated per day, V = .000, F(3, 24594) = 1.56, p = .196. Separate univariate analysis of variances on the outcome variables also indicates that there was no significant effect of knowing whether one has diabetes or not in terms of number of exercise days per week, F(1, 24596) = 3.249, p = .071, number of minutes of exercise per week, F(1, 24596) = 0.022, p = .881, and number of hours spent seated per day, F(1, 24596) = 1.214, p = .27. Conclusion: There is no difference in the level of physical activity between persons with and persons without diabetes in Kenya. There is therefore a need to explore the determinants of, and interventions needed in order to increase, physical activity among persons with diabetes in Kenya.

physical activity, exercise, diabetes, high blood sugar