Citation: Rodrigues, F.T.M.; Ferreira, A.P.d.L.; Alves, K.F.P.; Marques, T.V.; de Lima, D.F.; de Lucena, L.C.; Campos, S.L.; Leite, W.S.; Guerra, R.O.; Rapin, A.; et al. Whole-Body Vibration Associated with Strength Training on the Lower-Limb Blood Flow and Mobility in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. Diagnostics 2022, 12, 1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/ diagnostics12071550 Academic Editor: Silvia Giovannini Received: 25 May 2022 Accepted: 22 June 2022 Published: 25 June 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). diagnostics Protocol Whole-Body Vibration Associated with Strength Training on the Lower-Limb Blood Flow and Mobility in Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial François Talles Medeiros Rodrigues 1 , Ana Paula de Lima Ferreira 1 , Kennedy Freitas Pereira Alves 1 , Thais Vitorino Marques 1 , Daniel Florentino de Lima 1 , Larissa Coutinho de Lucena 2 , Shirley Lima Campos 3 , Wagner Souza Leite 3 , Ricardo Oliveira Guerra 4 , Amandine Rapin 5 , Maria das Graças Rodrigues de Araújo 1 and Redha Taiar 6, * 1 Laboratório de Cinesioterapia e Recursos Terapêuticos Manuais (LACIRTEM), Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife 50670-901, PE, Brazil; francoismedeirosfisiot@gmail.com (F.T.M.R.); apllima@yahoo.com.br (A.P.d.L.F.); kennedyfpa@hotmail.com (K.F.P.A.); thaisvmarques@hotmail.com (T.V.M.); daniel.florentino.lima@gmail.com (D.F.d.L.); mgrodriguesaraujo@hotmail.com (M.d.G.R.d.A.) 2 Faculdade Nova Esperança (FACENE), João Pessoa 58067-698, PB, Brazil; larissacoutinho@gmail.com 3 Laboratório Multiusuário de Inovação Instrumental e Desempenho Físico-Funcional (LInDEF), Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife 50670-901, PE, Brazil; shirleylcampos@uol.com.br (S.L.C.); wagnerszleite@gmail.com (W.S.L.) 4 Grupo de Estudos em Epidemiologia e Fisioterapia Geriátrica (GEFEG), Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal 59078-970, RN, Brazil; ricardoguerra2009@gmail.com 5 Faculté de Médecine, Université de Reims Champagne Ardennes, UR 3797 VieFra, 51097 Reims, France; arapin@chu-reims.fr 6 MATériaux et Ingénierie Mécanique (MATIM), Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, 51100 Reims, France * Correspondence: redha.taiar@univ-reims.fr Abstract: Vascular endothelium insults caused by high serum glucose levels affect the oxygen supply to tissues, via the microvascular endothelium, resulting in an increased perfusion heterogeneity. These insults may lead to the underuse of blood capillaries, while other vessels are overused and effectively overload their oxygen supply capacity, which eventually causes damages to distal parts of the peripheral nervous system. Therefore, the proprioceptive and exteroceptive feedback information will be gradually lost and contribute to a mobility reduction. This study aims to assess the efficacy of whole-body vibration (WBV) associated with strength training (ST) on lower-limb blood flow and mobility in older adults with type 2 diabetes (DM2). Methods and analyses: This is a protocol (1st version) for Pa single-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial guided by the SPIRIT guidelines. Our sample will consist of 51 older adults with DM2 randomly allocated to three groups: low frequency WBV (16–26 Hz) associated to ST (G1), WBV sham (G2) and nonintervention control (G3). The study protocol is set for a 12-week (three times per week) schedule. Primary outcomes: skin temperature using infrared thermographic imaging (ITI); mean peripheral arterial blood flow velocity (MBF) by a handheld Doppler ultrasound (DU), and functional mobility by Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Secondary outcomes: quasi-static posture using the DX100 BTS Smart optoelectronic system, and plantar pressure and body balance using the MPS stabilometric platform. Data will be collected and analyzed at baseline and post-intervention, considering p-value < 0.05 level of significance. The analyses will also be conducted with an intention-to-treat method and effect size. Dissemination: All results will be published in peer-reviewed journals as well as presented in conferences. Trail registration number: ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT03443986 Keywords: diabetes type 2; vascular endothelium; peripheral nervous system; whole-body vibration; strength training Diagnostics 2022, 12, 1550. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12071550 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/diagnostics