Exercise Tolerance And Pulmonary Function Among Middle Aged People With And Without Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To assess and to compare exercise tolerance and pulmonary function among middle aged persons with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and without. METHODS A total of 30 patients ,15 with type 2 diabetes and 15 age matched controls without diabetes recruited from a tertiary hospital, participated in the study. Exercise tolerance and pulmonary function was assessed using six -minute walk test and spirometer respectively, for both the groups. RESULTS: In the statistical analysis, the control group was seen to fare better in all the parameters. When analysed between groups using t test, FEV1, (t=11.350, p= <0.001) FVC (t=6.249, p= <0.001), FEV1/FVC (t=13.184, p=<0.001) and 6MWT (t=11.74100, p=<0.001) was found to be significantly different between diabetic and normal group. Analysis using chi square test showed a significant difference in lung function between diabetic and non-diabetic participants. CONCLUSION: Middle aged non-diabetic individuals showed normal performance in exercise tolerance and pulmonary function, whereas the Diabetic population had reduced exercise tolerance and pulmonary function. This implies that middle age could be a crucial stage for early prevention of decline in pulmonary function and exercise tolerance and also to prevent future complications in type 2 diabetic patients.