A Church Based Intervention to Improve Diabetes Care

Type 2 Diabetes Clinical Trial

Official title: A Church Based Intervention to Improve Diabetes Care

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study it to determine if a culturally appropriate, church based intervention for African Americans with type 2 diabetes, will lead to improved glycemic (blood sugar) control.

Clinical Trial Description

African Americans suffer disproportionately from diabetes and its complications. To reduce this burden of suffering, innovative interventions are needed to improve self-care behaviors including: dietary intake, physical activity (PA), self-monitoring, and medication adherence. The goal of this study (A New DAWN) was to develop and test a culturally appropriate, church-based intervention to improve diabetes self-management and glycemic control.

Twenty-four African American churches in central NC were recruited and randomized to receive the special intervention (SI-13 churches, 117 participants) or the delayed intervention (DI-11 churches, 84 participants). The SI included an 8-month intensive phase consisting of: 1 individual dietary assessment and counseling visit; 12 group sessions; monthly phone contact with a peer counselor (church diabetes advisor (CDA)); and 3 printed encouragement messages from the primary care clinician. This was followed by a 4-month reinforcement phase including monthly phone contacts from the CDA. At 8- and 12-month follow-up, HbA1c was assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography.

At baseline, 64% of participants were female and means were: age 59, years with diabetes 9, HbA1c 7.8%, Systolic Blood Pressure 139, Diastolic Blood Pressure 76, and BMI 35.0. A total of 174 (87%) participants returned for 8-month measures. Adjusting for baseline values and randomization by church, the mean HbA1c level was 7.4% for the SI and 7.8% for the DI (difference 0.4%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.1-0.6, p = 0.009). There were no statistically significant differences between groups for BP or BMI. Of 82 (70%) SI participants completing an 8-month follow-up questionnaire, 65 (79%) were very satisfied with the nutritional component, 63 (77%) were very satisfied with the PA component, and 72 (88%) considered the program to be very helpful overall.

In A New DAWN, the SI was acceptable and produced a modest, but clinically significant, reduction in HbA1c. These findings support the acceptability and effectiveness of self-management interventions given in a church setting for African Americans with type 2 diabetes. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Diabetes Mellitus
• Type 2 Diabetes

• NCT number: NCT00311324
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 2001
• Completion date: August 2003