The Effect of Resistance Exercise on Blood Glucose, Insulin and Insulin resistance in Iranian Patients with Type II Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Resistance exercise is recommended as effective treatments for people with type 2 diabetes. However, the impact of this mode of exercise on blood glucose, insulin and insulin resistance in Iranian's type 2 diabetic patients is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of the literature for the effect of resistance exercise training on these clinical markers in Iranian's type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: Electronic databases including Sid.ir, magiran.com, PubMed, Google scholar, Embase, Medline and science direct were investigated and searched for persian and english articles, published before July 2017, which performed in Iran. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess this association. Of 99 articles retrieved, 9 met our inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis model. Data analysis were done using STATA software version 12.0 and P≤0.05 was set as statistical significant. Results: The results indicate that there were significant association between resistance training and blood glucose levels (P=0.0001; -1.367,-0.756; 95%CI), insulin (P=0.0001;-0.904,-0.313; 95%CI) and insulin resistance (P=0.0001;-1.006,-0.366; 95%CI). Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that resistance exercise training program in patients with type 2 diabetes has a significant effect on glycemic control. It is recommended that sport and medicine experts use resistance exercise as a non- pharmacological intervention for treatment of type 2 diabetes patients. Future long term studies focusing on patient-relevant outcomes are warranted.