Effects of Modified Stretching Exercises on Fatigue Intensity in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Patients with type 2 diabetes suffer from fatigue and disease complications. Exercise is one of the non-medicinal methods, which is also affordable and can be done at any time and place.

This study aimed to determine the effects of modified stretching exercise on fatigue intensity in patients with type 2 diabetes.

In the present clinical trial study, the research population consisted of all patients with type 2 diabetes in the internal clinic of Shahid Fayaz-Bakhsh Hospital, Tehran, in 2021. A total number of 50 eligible patients with type 2 diabetes were selected by non-randomized sampling method. The selected participants were randomly divided into two groups: Experiment (25 people) and control (25 people). In the experimental group, training was held in 12 sessions. A demographic checklist and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) were used to collect data before and after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and paired t-test, chi-square, and independent t-test.

Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the overall scores of fatigue and its dimensions between the experimental and control groups (P > 0.05). After completing the interventions, a statistically significant difference was observed in the mean scores of fatigue and its dimensions between the experimental and control groups (P < 0.001).

Modified stretching exercises can improve the severity of fatigue in patients with type 2 diabetes. We suggest that healthcare providers use this stretching exercise to improve fatigue in diabetic patients.