Meta-analysis Shows Mind- and Body-Based Interventions Improve Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Only 57% of type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients achieve HbA1c <7%. Mind and body practices (MBP) are increasingly used to improve glycemic control inT2D, but individual studies show inconsistent efficacy. We performed a meta-analysis of MBP to assess their overall effect to improve glycemia in patients with T2D. We identified 489 articles with 25 having required HbA1c or fasting glucose measures and meeting other inclusion criteria. Interventions included yoga (n=16) , meditation (n=2) , Qigong (n=2) , guided imagery (n=1) , and mindfulness-based stress reduction (n=4) . We used restricted maximum likelihood random effects modeling to combine individual study results and estimate weighted means and 95% confidence intervals. Heterogeneity was assessed Cochran's Q and I2, bias assessed by funnel plots, and potential sources of heterogeneity assessed using meta regression. Overall, there was a statistically significant and clinically relevant mean reduction in HbA1C (‑0.94%; 95% CI: (-1.23%, -0.65%) ; p=5.4x10-10) . We observed a similar significant mean reduction in fasting glucose (-22.4 mg/dl; 95% CI: (-33.4, -11.6 mg/dl) ; p=5.4x10-5) . Funnel plots revealed no evidence for bias. Significant heterogeneity was observed (Q=71.2; p=2.3x10-9) , which could not be accounted for by variation in duration of the individual interventions (p=0.32) . We conclude MBP results in clinically significant improvement in glycemic control and may be an effective tool to treat patients with T2D. Disclosure F.Sanogo: None. K.Xu: None. V.K.Cortessis: None. M.Weigensberg: None. R.M.Watanabe: None.