Association of One-Leg Standing Time with Discontinuation of Injectable Medications During Hospitalization Among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are known to experience impaired physical ability even at the early stages of the disease. However, less attention has been paid to increasing physical ability than to increasing physical activity in the treatment of T2D. The aim of this study was to assess whether improved physical ability parameters are associated with the discontinuation of injectable medications once glycemic targets have been achieved among inpatients with inadequately controlled T2D across a wide range of ages.

Forty-three patients with glycated hemoglobin levels of ≥ 7.5% (58 mmol/mol) aged between 19 and 82 years who received insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or both at admission were enrolled in the study. Muscle strength for knee extension, one-leg standing time with eyes open test(OLST), whole-body reaction time and maximal oxygen uptake were assessed as parameters of physical ability.

At admission, patients who during hospitalization discontinued injectable medications (n = 29; Discontinued group) had a shorter duration of diabetes, lower fat mass and higher skeletal muscle mass and performed better on all of the physical ability test parameters than those who continued on injectable medications during hospitalization (n = 14; Continued group). At discharge, patients in the Discontinued group had achieved better glycemic control than those in the Continued group, as indicated by lower mean plasma glucose levels according to the 7-point profile. Stepwise logistic regression analysis that included those variables that were significantly different between the Continued group and the Discontinued group, with the aim to identify candidate(s) of explanatory variables, revealed that only OLST was significantly associated with the discontinuation of injectable medication. Patients with an OLST of ≥ 60 s were more likely to discontinue injectable medication than those with an OLST of < 60 s (odds ratio 18.9; 95% confidence interval 2.0–178.8; p = 0.011).

Among inpatients with inadequately controlled T2D diabetes, longer OLST appear to be associated with discontinuing injectable medications during hospitalization. OLST could possibly be useful as a novel patient factor to consider in de-intensifying injectable medication.