This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Peer mentorship, financial incentives improved glucose control in black veterans
Long JA. Ann Intern Med. 2012;156:416-424.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Black veterans who received peer mentorship and monetary incentives were more likely to show improved glucose control at 6 months, according to data from a randomized trial.
“On average, patients in the peer mentor group decreased their HbA1c levels by close to 1% compared with the control group,” the researchers wrote.
Judith A. Long, MD, associate professor of medicine at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues designed a trial in which 118 black veterans aged 50 to 70 years with insistent poor control of their diabetes were randomly assigned to one of three groups: usual care, a peer mentoring group or a financial incentive group.
The usual care group was notified of its starting HbA1c level and recommended goals for HbA1c. Mentors who had previously poor glycemic control and no prior relation to the mentee were matched by race, sex and age. The financial incentive group was eligible to earn $100 by decreasing its HbA1c level by 1% and $200 by decreasing it by 2% or to an HbA1c level of 6.5%.
Mentors phoned patients for monthly updates of their symptoms, severity of their symptoms and the type of follow-up care necessary for the symptoms. However, not all patients had complete responses for the calls.
Researchers concluded that HbA1c levels decreased from 9.9% to 9.8% in the control group, 9.8% to 8.7% in the peer mentor group and 9.5% to 9.1% in the financial incentive group. The average change in HbA1c level from baseline to 6 months relating to control was –1.07% (95% CI, –1.84 to –0.31) in the peer mentor group and –0.45% (CI, –1.23 to 0.32) in the financial group.
Twenty-eight of 38 patients completed an exit interview. Fourteen patients said the mentorship program was educational, five said they appreciated the common experience and six reported there was too little contact.
The researchers found the peer mentor process to be promising, but said further research should examine a broader population of individuals with a similar intervention.
Disclosure: Dr. Long reports receiving grant money from the National Institute of Aging Roybal Center 1P30AG034546.