Association Between Physical Activity and Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Ningbo, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Xueyu Li,1,* Kaushik Chattopadhyay,2,* Xiaoting Chen,3 Jialin Li,1 Miao Xu,1 Xueqin Chen,4 Li Li1 1Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, People’s Republic of China; 2Lifespan and Population Health, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 3School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Li Li, Email lilyningbo@163.comAim: The study aimed to investigate the association between physical activity and arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Ningbo, China.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Metabolic Management Center (MMC) dataset of The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University from 1st March 2018 to 28th February 2023. 4444 adults with T2DM were included in the study. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)-Short and was categorized into high, moderate, and low. Arterial stiffness was defined as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) ≥ 1800cm/s or common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA IMT) ≥ 1mm. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the association between physical activity and arterial stiffness.Results: 6.5%, 47.0%, and 46.5% of patients with T2DM had high, moderate, and low physical activity, respectively. 18.8% and 17.5% of patients had arterial stiffness based on baPWV and CCA IMT, respectively. The odds of arterial stiffness (based on baPWV) were lower in patients having moderate to high physical activity (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.98 and OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.87, respectively). The odds of arterial stiffness (based on CCA IMT) were found to be lower in patients having