Background: Aerobic exercise is well recognised as an effective treatment for people with type 2 diabetes but the optimal amount of aerobic exercise to improve glycaemic control remains to be determined. Thus, a meta-analysis and meta-regression were carried out to assess this.

Methods: Medline, Cochrane, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched up until 15th December 2020 for the terms “aerobic exercise AND glycaemic control”, “type 2 diabetes AND exercise”, and “exercise AND glycaemic control AND Type 2 diabetes AND randomised control trial”. We included (i) randomised control trials of ≥12 weeks, (ii) trials where participants had type 2 diabetes and were aged 18 or over, (iii) the trial reported HbA1c concentrations pre- and post-intervention. Two reviewers selected studies and extracted data. Data are reported as standardized mean difference (SMD) and publication bias was assessed using funnel plots.

Results: 5364 original titles were identified. 16 studies were included in the metaanalysis. Aerobic exercise reduced HbA1c vs. control (SMD = 0.56 (95% CI 0.3 – 0.82), p < 0.001). There were also significant reductions in BMI (SMD = 0.76 (95% CI 0.25 – 1.27), p < 0.05). There was no dose-response relationship between improvement in HbA1c and the intensity and volume of the intervention (p >0.05).

Conclusion: 12-week or longer aerobic exercise programmes improve glycaemic control, and BMI in adults with type 2 diabetes. Longer or more intense interventions appear to confer no additional benefit on HbA1c.