Methods

Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Inclusion criteria were: type 2 diabetes mellitus, adult, supervised training and a minimum intervention period of 8 weeks. Pooled effects were calculated by fixed/random effect pairwise and Bayesian fixed/random effects network meta-analyses.

Results

A total of 14 trials enrolling 915 participants were included. AET was more effective than RT in improving HbA 1c levels (mean difference [MD]− 0.20%[− 2.2 mmol/mol]; 95% CI− 0.32,− 0.08; p= 0.0007, 10 trials/515 participants) and fasting glucose (MD− 0.9 mmol/l; 95% CI− 1.71,− 0.09; p= 0.03, 8 trials/245 participants). Compared with AET, CT resulted in a significantly more pronounced reduction in HbA 1c (MD− 0.17%[− 1.87 mmol/mol]; 95% CI− 0.31,− 0.03; p= 0.02, 9 trials/493 participants). Compared with RT, the MD of the change in HbA 1c (MD− 0.62%,[− 6.82 mmol/mol]; 95% CI− 0.95,− 0.30; p= 0.0002, 5 trials/362 participants], fasting glucose (MD− 1.99 mmol/l; 95% CI− 3.07,− 0.90; p= 0.0003, 3 trials/99 participants) and triacylglycerols (MD− 0.28 mmol/l; 95% CI− 0.46,− 0.10; p= 0.003, 4 trials/213 participants) were all in favour of CT. The exclusion of trials with a high risk of bias yielded only non-significant results.