<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; text-align: left; mso-line-height-alt: 14.0pt; layout-grid-mode: char; mso-layout-grid-align: none; border: none; mso-padding-alt: 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt; mso-border-shadow: yes;" align="left">Association Between Daily Steps Measured by Accelerometry and Diabetes in ELSA-Brasil Participants

Diabetes mellitus is a serious chronic disease whose main characteristic is hyperglycemia (increased blood glucose), accompanied by changes in lipid and protein metabolism. For individuals with diabetes mellitus, physical activity provides significant benefits and is an essential tool for metabolic management. Daily step counting, measured with AI support through wearable devices, can be an important metric of physical activity for the prevention and treatment of this disease if performed regularly and respecting a minimum daily amount. Objective: To investigate the association between daily steps and diabetes and to determine what minimum amount should be performed daily for a protective effect in participants of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health. Methods: The study was cross-sectional and participants from the 2nd segment (2016-2018) were analyzed, with a sample of 12,636 participants. The dependent variable was diabetes, assessed by laboratory tests, and the independent variable was daily steps counting, assessed by accelerometry. The associations between the dependent and independent variables were analyzed using logistic regression. The odds ratio with 95% CI was estimated. Results: An association was found between daily steps and diabetes (OR = 0.76, CI = 0.70-0.83), in addition to the cutoff point of 6,880 with area under the ROC curve = 0.58 (CI = 0.57-0.59). Conclusion: Based on the results found in this study, we can conclude that the number of daily steps has a protective effect against diabetes, especially in men and women with abdominal obesity and in men with moderate/vigorous leisure-time physical activity.