Comparison of Prevalence of Pre-Diabetes and Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus Between Athletes and Non-Athletes

Background: Sports and Exercise activities are exceedingly advantageous for the human body and extremely helpful in decreasing the risks of diseases. The purpose of this research was to know the prevalence of pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes mellitus among athletes and non-athletes. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional research was conducted between April 2021 and November 2021 at the Department of Physiology, Bolan Medical College, Quetta. The 670 male participants were interviewed randomly primarily on demographics and complete medical history with 350 athletes and 320 non-athletes from the general population of the same approved and recruited athletes. HbA1c was used to define prediabetes and type 2 diabetes using the American Diabetes Association criteria for various signs and symptoms. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 21. The independent t-test was used to compare both groups and correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship (r) between HbA1c levels and BMI. A p-value <0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: In athletes, the prevalence of pre-diabetes was 11 (3.1%) and Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was 21 (6%) compared to non-athlete control participants having pre-diabetes was 73 (22.8%) and T2DM was 61 (19.0%) (p=0.001). Conclusions: Regular exercise decreases the prevalence of pre-diabetes and T2DM among the athletes compared to non-athlete participants. The results of the study indicated that there is a necessity to increase awareness of the importance of physical activity, support, and urge people to engage in physical activity and fight this rapidly increasing ‘diabetes epidemic’.