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RecruitingNCT03827382BELIFEUpdated Feb 14, 2025

Bicycle Exercise and Lifestyle Intervention in Newly Diagnosed Diabetes

An interventional study of Lifestyle Intervention in Life Style, sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. Recruiting at 3 sites in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-02-14.

Sponsored by University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2025, 9 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Feb 2019; still recruiting 7 years 8 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
62
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of the study is to test the efficacy, feasibility, and safety of a bicycle exercise followed by an intensive lifestyle intervention for 3 months in patients with recent onset and medically untreated type 2 diabetes.

Read the detailed description

Lifestyle intervention is a fundamental aspect in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Implementation of lifestyle changes early after diagnosis often suffices to control metabolic dysregulation and may even have a durable impact. However, implementation of these changes is often difficult for multiple reasons including noncompliance as well as doubt on efficacy of sport and diet changes compared to drugs. Furthermore, most patients with type 2 diabetes remain asymptomatic for a prolonged period of time. Thus, they lack an immediate relief of symptoms and do not feel the benefit of changes in lifestyle. Often, untreated type 2 diabetes first manifests itself with symptoms of polyuria and polydipsia. This offers a unique opportunity to demonstrate the potential of lifestyle changes. However, in daily practice, symptomatic patients with polyuria and polydipsia or with HbA1c levels >10% at diagnosis are typically referred to an emergency room, hospitalized and treated with drugs as a first line treatment.

In the present study, we aim to implement a lifestyle intervention as a first-line treatment in recent onset type 2 diabetes. In the emergency room, the bed will symbolically be removed and the patient requested to perform a bicycle exercise. Non-ER patients will be invited to perform the bicycle exercise as soon as possible. We expect from this educational trigger that patients will realize the therapeutic power of sport. Preliminary interventions using this approach at our emergency room demonstrated the potential of such an intervention. However, internal and external validation, efficacy and safety of a lifestyle intervention in an emergency room remain to be shown in a multi-center controlled study.

The primary endpoint of this study is achievement of metabolic control without anti-diabetic medication 3 months after study enrollment. For the purpose of this study, metabolic control is defined as an HbA1c below a target stratified for three groups according to HbA1c at baseline: HbA1c >14% a target of \< 10%; HbA1c \< 14% and > 10% a target of \< 8%; HbA1c \< 10% a target of \< 7.5%.

Patients will be randomized either to standard care or to a bicycle exercise followed by an intensive lifestyle intervention on top of non-pharmacological standard care.

After rehydration, patients allocated to the intensified lifestyle intervention group will be instructed to perform 30 minutes of bicycle exercise at 60 % of the calculated maximum heart rate (according to Franckowiak et al.) followed by an intensive lifestyle intervention. Patients will be discharged if the clinical status is stable and no comorbidities require further hospitalization. Follow-up visits at the Clinic of Endocrinology for further instructions and consultation will be carried out after 2, 7, 30, 60 and 90 days, half a year and a year.

In order to monitor blood glucose levels, patients will be instructed on visit 2 to take measurements at home and will be asked to send their fasting glucose levels of the first week to the study team for monitoring of the metabolic situation. This will also be done in the week before visits of day 30 and 90.

The schedule for the intervention arm consists of 3 to 5 aerobic training sessions (duration 15-40 minutes each) and 2 resistance trainings per week, as well as weekly motivational coaching via telephone by the study psychologist. Everyday activity will be objectively monitored using the patient's mobile phone and a blinded actigraph (activity tracker). Exercise sessions will be monitored by weekly phone calls and documented. To assess baseline physical activity all patients will fill in the SIMPAQ questionnaire at baseline and at 6 months.

Measurement of clinical parameters (heart rate, blood pressure), venous blood gas analysis (pH, pCO2, base excess, bicarbonate) at baseline and 120 min after beginning of bicycle exercise. Blood glucose levels at baseline and 30, 60 and 120 min after beginning of bicycle exercise. Blood glucose levels, vital parameters, concomitant medication after 2, 7, 30, 60 and 90 days; HbA1c at baseline, 2 (only intervention group), 3 and 6 months and one year; physical activity at baseline, 3 and 6 months. In the intervention group additional self-measurements of blood glucose levels during the first week and within the week before visit at day 30 and 90 after randomization.

02

Conditions studied

  • Life Style

Keywords

  • Life Style Intervention
  • Type 2 Diabetes mellitus
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland is the lead sponsor of 968 studies on the registry; 191 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Informed consent as documented by signature
  • Type 2 diabetes diagnosed within the last two years according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria
  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • HbA1c ≥ 7.5 %

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Clinically instable patient as defined by the physicians on duty including signs of new cardiac ischemia in the ECG, systolic blood pressure ≥ 200 mmHg, fever ≥ 38.5 °C, symptoms of SIRS or reduced vigilance.
  • Anti-diabetic medication for ≥ 24 hours
  • Inability to perform a bicycle exercise during 30 minutes
  • Previous lifestyle-intervention by an endocrinologist
  • Engagement in physical activity more than five times per week
  • Enrollment in other interventional study
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
62 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Intervention

    Patients with intensive Lifestyle intervention

    Behavioral: Lifestyle Intervention

  • No intervention
    Control

    Patients with Standard Diabetes care

Interventions

  • BehavioralLifestyle Intervention

    Physical activity program: 3-5 aerobic training sessions (15-40 minutes each) per week, combined with 2 resistance training per week as well as motivational coaching via telephone Nutritional counseling

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. metabolic control

    fasting glucose \< 7.6 mM and HbA1c below a target stratified for three groups according to HbA1c at baseline.

    Time frame: 3 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Absolute HbA1c reduction per stratification group

    Absolute HbA1c (% points) reduction after 3 months per stratification group (groups consist of HbA1c \>14%; HbA1c \<14% and \>10%; HbA1c \<10%)

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. Absolute HbA1c reduction per stratification group

    Absolute HbA1c (% points) reduction after 6 months per stratification group (groups consist of HbA1c \>14%; HbA1c \<14% and \>10%; HbA1c \<10%)

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. Proportion of patients achieving HbA1c target in each stratification group

    Proportion (%) of patients achieving target per stratified group after 3 months without anti-diabetic medication other than Metformin (groups consist of HbA1c \>14%, HbA1c \<14% and \>10% and HbA1c \<10%)

    Time frame: 3 months

  4. Feasibility of bicycle exercise at study enrollment in the ER

    Feasibility of bicycle exercise at study enrollment in the ER, defined as absence of problem reports through the study team

    Time frame: 2 hours

  5. Proportion of patients achieving HbA1c target in each stratification group

    Proportion (%) of patients achieving target per stratified group after 6 months without anti-diabetic medication other than Metformin (groups consist of HbA1c \>14%, HbA1c \<14% and \>10% and HbA1c \<10%)

    Time frame: 6 months

  6. Changes in heart rate after bicycle intervention

    Changes in heart rate (beats per minute) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  7. Changes in respiratory rate after bicycle intervention

    Changes in respiratory rate (breaths per minute) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  8. Changes in blood pressure after bicycle intervention

    Changes in blood pressure (mmHg) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  9. Changes in blood glucose after bicycle intervention

    Changes in blood glucose (mmol/l) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  10. Changes in pH after bicycle intervention

    Changes in pH at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  11. Changes in base excess after bicycle intervention

    Changes in base excess (BE) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  12. Changes in bicarbonate after bicycle intervention

    Changes in bicarbonate (mmol/l) at the end and 120 min after bicycle exercise in the emergency room compared to baseline

    Time frame: 2 hours

  13. Incidence of exercise related Adverse Events (Safety) during bicycle exercise in the ER

    Incidence of exercise related Adverse Events (cardiac, circulatory, pulmonary, neurologic complications) during bicycle exercise after diabetes diagnosis in the ER

    Time frame: 2 hours

  14. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (Safety and Tolerability)

    Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (Safety and Tolerability) during intensive lifestyle intervention after new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes

    Time frame: 6 months

  15. Re-hospitalization rate

    Re-hospitalizations within 3 months after discharge from the emergency room.

    Time frame: 3 months

  16. Re-consultation rate

    Rate of unplanned re-consultations within 3 months after discharge from the emergency room.

    Time frame: 3 months

  17. Changes in HbA1c at 6 months

    Changes in HbA1c (in % points) at 6 months compared to baseline assessed by blood sample

    Time frame: 6 months

  18. Changes in physical activity at 6 months

    Changes in physical activity at 6 months compared to baseline assessed by SIMPAQ questionnaire and actigraph. The SIMPAQ (Simple Physical Activity Questionnaire) measures daily physical activity. Time spent sedentary and active is measured in hours per day.

    Time frame: 6 months

  19. Number of antidiabetic medication at 30 days

    Number of antidiabetic medication at 30 compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 30 days

  20. Number of antidiabetic medication 60 days

    Number of antidiabetic medication 60 days compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 60 days

  21. Number of antidiabetic medication at 90 days

    Number of antidiabetic medication at 90 days compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 90 months

  22. Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 30

    Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 30 days compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 30 days

  23. Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 60 days

    Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 60 days compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 60 days

  24. Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 90 days

    Dosage of antidiabetic medication at 90 days compared to baseline in both arms

    Time frame: 90 days

  25. Quality of life by SF-36 Questionnaire

    Quality of life at 6 months in intervention group as compared to standard of care as assessed by SF-36 questionnaire. The Short Form (36) Health Survey is a 36-item, patient-reported survey of patient health. The SF-36 consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The lower the score the more disability. The higher the score the less disability i.e., a score of zero is equivalent to maximum disability and a score of 100 is equivalent to no disability.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

3 of 3 sites recruiting
  • University of Basel
    Basel, Basel-Stadt 4031, Switzerland
    Recruiting
  • Cantonal Hospital Olten
    Olten, Solothurn 4600, Switzerland
    Recruiting
  • Hopital du Jura
    Delémont, 2800, Switzerland
    • Marc Donath, Prof Dr · Contact · marc.donath@usb.ch
    • Marc Donath, Prof Dr · Principal investigator
    • Yoann Aubry, MD · Sub investigator
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Study protocol · Oct 30, 2023

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 14, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03827382
Lead sponsor
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
Collaborators
Kantonsspital Olten
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 1, 2019
Start date
Feb 1, 2019
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2025 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 14, 2025

Study contacts

Marc Y Donath, Prof.
Contact
marc.donath@usb.ch
0041 61 265 50 78
Matthias Hepprich, MD
Contact
matthias.hepprich@usb.ch
0041 61 328 60 77
Marc Y Donath, Prof.
principal investigator · University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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