Effect of exercise-based rehabilitation on functional capacity and renal function in type 2 diabetes mellitus with nephropathy: a randomized controlled trial

Introduction Diabetic nephropathy is a growing public health challenge with implications on health. Renal function decline impacts the functional ability and overall health and well-being of individuals with diabetic nephropathy due to development of several renal manifestations. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of an exercise-based rehabilitation program on functional capacity and renal function among individuals with type 2 diabetic nephropathy. Methods A total of 283 individuals were screened and 60 eligible participants aged 45–70 years with diabetic nephropathy were randomly allocated ( n = 30 each) to the intervention group (IG) and control group (CG), respectively. The study outcome measures comprised of functional capacity (6-min walk test) and renal function assessed at baseline, 12th week and 24th week. Participants allocated to IG received 12 weeks of exercise based rehabilitation (comprising of supervised + home-based exercises) along with standard care and followed-up till 24th week. Results The repeated measures ANOVA with Greenhouse–Geisser correction indicated significant timepoint*group interaction effect for 6-min walk distance F (1.71, 90.59) = 619, p