The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Combined with Aerobic Training on Anxiety Symptoms, Insulin Resistance and Lipid Profile in Women with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) combined with aerobic exercise (AE) on anxiety symptoms, insulin resistance (IR) and lipid profile in women with T2DMmellitus (T2DM).

Materials and Methods: In the present study, 60 T2DM women with a mean age of 33.5 (± 3.52) years were selected from the patients who were referred to the specialized clinic Petroleum Industry in summer 2020. They were randomly divided into four groups of ACT (n=15), AE (n=15), ACT combined with AE (n=15), and the control group (n=15). Intervention programs were performed for 10 weeks, and then indices were collected before and after the intervention using blood tests and Beck Depression Inventory.

 Results: ACT led to a significant decrease in anxiety and LDL (P-value: 0.001). Moreover, AE significantly reduced the anxiety index and increased HDL (P-value: 0.001). In addition, the effect of ACT and exercise significantly reduced anxiety (P-value: 0.001) and LDL index (P-value: 0.03) and also increased HDL (P-value: 0.03). However, indices of blood glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, total cholesterol, and triglycerides did not indicate any significant changes in the intervention groups as compared with the control group (P-value<0.05).

Conclusion: According to the obtained findings, the use of psychological intervention along with AE could lead to a significant change in the symptoms of anxiety and some lipid indices in T2DM women. Also caused a non-significant improvement in glycemic index and can be regarded as a solution for diabetics.