Similar Reduction Seen in Mortality for Exercise Patterns in Diabetes

TUESDAY, July 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with self-reported diabetes, weekend warrior and regular activity patterns meeting current physical activity recommendations are associated with similarly reduced risks for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, according to a study published online July 22 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Zhiyuan Wu, Ph.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues examined the associations of different physical activity patterns, particularly weekend warrior and regularly active behavior, with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality in a prospective cohort study involving 51,650 adults with self-reported diabetes. Participants were categorized as inactive (reporting no moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA]), insufficiently active (MVPA <150 minutes per week), weekend warrior (MVPA ≥150 minutes per week in one to two sessions), and regularly active (MVPA ≥150 minutes per week in three or more sessions).

The researchers documented 16,345 deaths (5,620 cardiovascular; 2,883 cancer) during a median follow-up of 9.5 years. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were significantly lower across physical activity groups compared with inactive participants: adjusted hazard ratios, 0.90, 0.79, and 0.83 for insufficiently active, weekend warriors, and regularly active persons, respectively. Cardiovascular mortality was the main driver of these benefits (hazard ratios, 0.98, 0.67, and 0.81 for insufficiently active, weekend warriors, and regularly active persons, respectively). Fewer differences were seen for cancer mortality, with the risk only significantly reduced for regularly active persons (hazard ratio, 0.85).

“This underscores the importance of any physical activity for people with diabetes,” the authors write.

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