Physical activity level and its barriers among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus attending primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia

INTRODUCTION: Physical activity (PA) plays an important role in diabetes management. This study aimed to evaluate the level of PA and the barriers toward practicing regular PA among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attending primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Jeddah during 2018. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 250 patients were interviewed face-to-face in three PHCs. Two questionnaires were used in this study. The first questionnaire measured the level of PA of the participants. The second questionnaire aimed to identify barriers to PA. For analysis, simple descriptive statistics, Chi-square, T-test, and analysis of variance were used. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical inactivity was found to be 38.4%. Males and females composed 40% and 37.4% of the participants, respectively. Lack of social support, lack of energy, fear of injury, and lack of skills were identified as significant barriers to PA according to the level of PA. CONCLUSION: Our findings may provide baseline data for future research on this topic and information for healthcare professionals to improve their efforts in promoting the overall health of patients with T2DM.