Physical Activity Reduces Risk of Premature Mortality in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes With and Without Kidney Disease.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to assess how baseline leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and its exercise components intensity, duration, and frequency are associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes 1 ) overall, 2 ) stratified by presence or absence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and 3 ) stratified by sex.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study design was prospective and observational and included 2,639 patients with type 1 diabetes from the ongoing nationwide multicenter Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study. Mean follow-up time was 11.4 ± 3.5 years. LTPA was assessed by using a validated self-report questionnaire. Three hundred ten patients (11.7%) had CKD defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of ≤60 mL/min/1.73 m2 .

RESULTS: During follow-up, 270 deaths occurred. LTPA and all its components were associated with all-cause mortality, even after adjustment for the potential confounders sex, diabetic nephropathy, duration of diabetes, age at onset of diabetes, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, BMI, and HbA1c . Only exercise intensity was associated with cardiovascular mortality after adjustment for the confounders. Of the patients with CKD, 127 died during follow-up. The total amount of LTPA and exercise frequency were independently associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality when adjusted for covariates.

CONCLUSIONS: Exercise is associated with a lower risk of premature all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes. This study also demonstrates that physical activity is associated with a lower risk of mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes and CKD.