SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Clinical Diabetes
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1658739
This article is part of the Research TopicExerscience: Exploring Physical Activity's Role in Diabetes and its ComplicationsView all articles
Bayesian Network Meta-analysis of the Impact of Exercise Therapy on Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, Shanghai, China
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Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of exercise therapy on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and compare the efficacy of different exercise regimens. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating exercise interventions in T2DM were identified through systematic searches of PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP, Wanfang Database, and China Biology Medicine (CBM) from inception to September 2024. Methodological quality was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Data were analyzed using RevMan 5.4, Stata 15.1, R 4.0.5, and JAGS 4.3.0 for Bayesian network meta-analysis. Results: A total of 22 studies involving 1448 participants were included. All studies were RCTs, with PEDro scores ranging from 6 to 8, with an average score of 6.41, indicating overall high quality. Exercise therapy significantly improved fasting blood glucose (SMD = -0.58, 95%CI: [-0.77, -0.39], P < 0.00001), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (SMD = -0.51, 95%CI: [-0.73, -0.30], P < 0.00001), and glycated hemoglobin (MD = -0.66, 95%CI: [-0.78, -0.54], P < 0.00001). Aerobic exercise combined with resistance exercise for 14-24 weeks yielded the best improvement in fasting blood glucose (SMD = -2.106, 95%CI: [-3.042, -1.176]), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (SMD = -3.177, 95%CI: [-5.623, -0.791]), and glycated hemoglobin (MD = -1.382, 95%CI: [-2.050, -0.747]). Conclusion: Exercise therapy is an effective non-pharmacological approach for improving glycemic control in T2DM. Based on current evidence, combined aerobic and resistance exercise for 14–48 weeks is recommended as the optimal strategy for reducing fasting blood glucose, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose, and glycated hemoglobin levels in this population.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes, Exercise Therapy, Network meta-analysis, randomized controlled trial, Blood Glucose
Received: 03 Jul 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wang and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jing Sun, sunjing20042008@163.com
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