Evidence Gap and Knowledge Map of Physical Activity Research in Diabetes in Iran: A Scoping Review

The important role of physical activity in the prevention and management of diabetes necessitates a review of current research to shed light on gaps in national diabetes guidelines.

This scoping review was part of the Iran Diabetes Research Roadmap (IDRR) study. A systematic search was used based on the Arksey and O’Malley method consisting of six steps. The descriptive analysis was done with SPSS software. Additionally, VOS veiwer software was used to draw the knowledge map of the included studies.

There were 169 articles included from the beginning of 2015 to the end of 2019 in Iran. Aerobic and resistance exercises were types of physical activity with more number of articles. Most of the included clinical studies were randomized clinical trials in design and had a level of evidence two. Also, there was more interest in outcomes such as glycemic control and insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome, metabolism, and cardiovascular health. The network of co-authorship was drawn, and "controlled study", "male", and "rat" were the most frequent keywords.

The number of Iranian diabetes researchers on physical activity has been increasing, and the majority of clinical studies had a high level of evidence. With maintaining previous interests and investigations, there should be more emphasis on research in elderly and children age groups as evidence gap in Iran. Also, longitudinal cohort studies should be highlighted, and Iranian researchers should be encouraged to participate in new topics of research worldwide.