Table 2.

Physical activity as preventive or mitigating tool against DR

Type of physical activity	Study details	Results	Reference
Various types of physical activity	Meta-analysis of twenty-two studies (Medline (accessed by PubMed), EmBase, and Cochrane Library)	↓ DR risk, moderate intensity of physical activities: ↑ beneficial effect on DR	[109]
Higher physical activity and less sedentary lifestyle	Population-based Beijing Eye Study: participants (n = 3468), individuals with information of their physical activity (n = 3031 (87.4%))	↓ prevalence of DR	[110]
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity	Retinopathy patients (n = 157) between 40 and 85 years of age	Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (30 min/day): ↓ 0.12 mg/dL CRP, ↓ systemic inflammation	[111]
Leisure-time physical activity	Finnish individuals with type 1 diabetes and retinopathy (n = 1612)	↓ severity of DR	[112]
Walking, moderate, and vigorous physical activity	All participants (n = 266,896), eligible participants—working-aged diabetic patients from New South Wales, Australia (n = 9018)	↓ risk of retinal photocoagulation, ↓ DR progression	[113]
Non-bouted physical activity	Broader US adult participants (n = 1501) between 40 and 85 years	↓ probability of diagnosis of moderate-to-severe retinopathy	[114]
Higher (walking, moderate, and vigorous) physical activity	Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 1814)	↓ incidence of DR	[115]