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Diabetes prevention programs produced long-term benefits
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Researchers have demonstrated through data similar to the Diabetes Prevention Project that a community-based diabetes prevention program yielded significant long-term metabolic improvements among patients with diabetes over time.
Jeffrey A. Katula, PhD, assistant professor of health and exercise sciences at Wake Forest University and joint assistant professor of epidemiology and prevention at Wake Forest Baptist, and colleagues conducted the study based on evidence from the Diabetes Prevention Project (DPP).
“We wanted to take this intervention out to people in the community rather than having them have to come to us in a clinical setting,” Katula said in a press release. “Given the high prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome and risk for diabetes, our study shows we can provide an effective program in a community setting.”
In the Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD) trial, patients with prediabetes (n=301) were randomly assigned to a 24-month lifestyle weight-loss program (LWL) and were compared with an enhanced usual-care condition (UCC) group of patients with prediabetes.
Researchers intended for the LWL group to demonstrate a 7% weight loss at 6 months, maintained over time through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity, whereas the UCC group received two visits with a registered dietitian and a monthly newsletter.
Researchers wrote that after 18 to 24 months, the LWL patients displayed greater reductions in fasting glucose (–4.35 mg/dL); insulin (–3.01 mcU/mL); insulin resistance (–0.97); body weight (–4.19 kg); waist circumference (–3.23 cm); and BMI (–1.40) vs. the UCC group (all P<.01).
These findings suggest that community-based diabetes prevention programs are an effective approach to long-term reductions in metabolic indicators and adiposity, according to researchers.
Disclosure: This study was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Katula reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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