Comparison of Physical Activity Level between Persons with and Persons without Diabetes in Kenya

Ferdinand Nsengimana^1, and Alain T. Yombouno²

¹Lecturer - Researcher, National Institute of Public Health, Bujumbura, Burundi

²National Coordinator, Africa CDC, Bujumbura, Burundi

Cite this paper:
Ferdinand Nsengimana and Alain T. Yombouno. Comparison of Physical Activity Level between Persons with and Persons without Diabetes in Kenya. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2024; 12(4):121-124. doi: 10.12691/ajphr-12-4-8

Abstract

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.

Keywords:
physical activity exercise diabetes high blood sugar

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	World Health Organization. (2023). Diabetes. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[2]	The Lancet. (2023). Global, regional, and national burden of diabetes from 1990 to 2021, with projections of prevalence to 2050: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Retrieved from https:// www.thelancet.com/ journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01301-6/fulltext. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[3]	Pastakia, S. D., Pekny, C. R., Manyara, S. M., Fischer, L. (2017). Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa – from policy to practice to progress: targeting the existing gaps for future care for diabetes. Retrieved from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC5489055/. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[4]	Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Kenya demographic and health survey 2022. Retrieved from https://dhsprogram.com/ pubs/pdf/PR143/PR143.pdf. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[5]	World Health Organization. (2020). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour: at a glance. Retrieved from https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/337001/9789240014886-eng.pdf. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[6]	Asfaw, M. S., Dagne, W. K. (2022). Physical activity can improve diabetes patients' glucose control; A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://www.cell.com/heliyon/pdf/S2405-8440(22)03555-1.pdf. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[7]	Rietz, M., Lehr, A., Mino, E., Lang, A., Szczerba, E., Schiemann, T., Herder, C. et al. (2022). Physical Activity and Risk of Major Diabetes-Related Complications in Individuals With Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Retrieved from https:// diabetesjournals.org/ care/article/ 45/12/3101/147970/Physical-Activity-and-Risk-of-Major-Diabetes. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[8]	Morrato, E. H., Hill, J. O., Wyatt, H. R., Ghushchyan, V., Sullivan, P. W. (2007). Physical Activity in U.S. Adults With Diabetes and At Risk for Developing Diabetes, 2003. Retrieved from https:// diabetesjournals.org/care/article/30/2/203/28386/Physical-Activity-in-U-S-Adults-With-Diabetes-and. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[9]	Sibai, A. M., Costanian, C., Tohme, R., Assaad, S., Hwalla, N. (2013). Physical activity in adults with and without diabetes: from the ‘high-risk’ approach to the ‘population-based’ approach of prevention. Retrieved from https:// bmcpublichealth. biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1002. [Accessed January 10, 2024].
[10]	Mortensen, S. R., Kristensen, P. L., Grøntved, A., Ried-Larsen, M., Lau, C., Skou, S. T. (2022). Determinants of physical activity among 6856 individuals with diabetes: a nationwide cross-sectional study. Retrieved from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9389096/. [Accessed January 10, 2024].