Objective: The objectives of this study are to assess the effects of lifestyle interventions on the prevention of diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Methods: The PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI and Wanfang databases were searched. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA 12.0 software. Results were described as relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 16 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a combined cohort size of 8571 IGT participants were identified. Overall, our meta-analysis suggests the usefulness of lifestyle interventions in preventing diabetes in patients with IGT (RR = 0.54, 95%CI: 0.49-0.60, P < 0.001), and similar findings were observed in both Caucasian population and Asian population. We also performed subgroup analysis by lifestyle interventions, and found that compared with control group, diet, exercise, and diet plus exercise can result in a reduction of around 48%, 32% and 35% in diabetes incidence, respectively. Conclusion: This meta-analysis illustrated that lifestyle interventions can have a beneficial effect on the incidence of diabetes in patients with IGT. |