Investigating the Effect of Pilates Exercises on Anthropometric Indices, Anxiety, and Depression of Women with Type ۲ Diabetes

Introduction and Aim: Type ۲ diabetes mellitus is common in obese or overweight young women. Owing to the chronic nature of diabetes, psychological complications such as anxiety and depression are also commonly seen in these people. The present study investigates the effect of Pilates exercises on anthropometric indices, anxiety, and depression of women with diabetes referring to diabetes clinics in Zahedan city.Materials and Methods: The present study is a two-group quasi-experimental study of pre-test-post-test type. Accordingly, ۶۰ female patients with a definitive diagnosis of type ۲ diabetes referred to diabetes clinics in Zahedan in the winter of ۲۰۲۱ and spring of ۲۰۲۲ were studied in this study. The patients were selected by convenience sampling method. Using the random allocation method and permutation blocks, they were placed in two Pilates and control groups. First, the anthropometric indices of BMI, WC, WHR, and WHtR were measured. Then, the hospital anxiety and depression scale was completed for both groups. Then, the women of the intervention group performed Pilates exercises for ۸ weeks under the supervision of a Pilates exercise expert. After ۸ weeks, data were collected again and statistically analyzed in SPSS ۲۲ software. The significance level of data was considered at P < ۰.۰۵.Results: The results revealed that the two groups were homogeneous regarding age, marital status, occupation, type of blood sugar-lowering drugs, blood sugar-effective drugs, regular walking, and diet (P>۰.۰۵). After ۸ weeks of Pilates exercises, patients in the intervention group showed a significant decrease in the mean scores and standard deviation of anxiety (۱۳.۳۳-۲.۶ before the intervention and ۳.۲-۵.۴۱ after the intervention) and depression (from ۲.۶۱-۲. ۱۱.۹ before the intervention and ۲.۵۶-۱.۸۵ after the intervention), and anthropometric indices. However, a significant increase in the mentioned variables was observed in the control group (P < ۰.۰۵).Conclusion: The results revealed that Pilates exercises can reduce anxiety, and depression, and improve body mass indices. Thus, it can result in a reduction in patients' need to receive a drug, the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, modifying the lifestyle, improving the quality of treatment, and reducing the incidence of diabetes complications.

Keywords:

Diabetes mellitus , Pilates , Depression , Anxiety , Anthropometric indices