Peer support for patients with type 2 diabetes in rural communities of China: protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Community Health Worker Program Outcomes for Diabetes and Hypertension Control in West Bank Refugee Camps: A Retrospective Matched Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION

Community health worker (CHW) programs have proven effective in improving diabetes control in many locations and settings, but data on feasibility and efficacy are lacking in the Middle East and settings of chronic violence. A Palestinian CHW program, Health for Palestine (H4P), addresses chronic diseases in West Bank refugee camps. Our study assesses the feasibility and effectiveness of the program's diabetes and hypertension interventions.

METHODS

Data on home visits, patient retention, and blood pressure were extracted from the CHW records and analyzed. To assess diabetic patient progress, we conducted a retrospective matched cohort study using data obtained from a United Nations (UN) clinical database to analyze the trajectory of hemoglobin A1c (A1c) values. Thirty of the 47 diabetic patients in the H4P CHW program met study inclusion criteria and were each matched with 3 patients from the Bethlehem UN clinic (n=120). We tested for significance using multivariable linear regression with robust standard errors.

RESULTS

The average number of home visits per patient per month was 7.3 (standard deviation=4.1), and the patient retention rate was 100% over an average of 11.2 months. For hypertension patients in the CHW program (n=33), mean systolic blood pressure decreased by 7.3 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.93, 12.25; P=.009) and mean diastolic blood pressure by 4.3 mmHg (95% CI=0.80, 7.91; P=.018) from March 2018 to November 2019. On average, diabetic patients within the CHW group experienced a 1.4 point greater decline in A1c per year compared to those in the non-CHW group, after adjusting for potential confounders (95% CI=-0.66, -2.1; P<.001).

DISCUSSION

The results suggest that CHW accompaniment may be an effective model for improving diabetes and hypertension control in refugee camps experiencing direct violence and extreme adversity. A low exclusion cut-off for A1c (≤6.4%) may underestimate the program's impact.

Trained Volunteers With Type 2 Diabetes Experience Significant Health Benefits When Providing Peer Support

Trained lay volunteers may have value in supporting lifestyle change programs in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, but the potential health benefits (or harms) experienced by these lay volunteers have not been well described. This is important, as this is an appealing model in terms of workforce planning. The aim of the prespecified quantitative study reported here, was to examine the possible health benefits or harms experienced by these trained lay volunteers with type 2 diabetes. In a large type 2 diabetes prevention program, we recruited and trained 104 lay volunteers with type 2 diabetes themselves, to act as diabetes prevention mentors and codeliver the lifestyle intervention. Mentors made motivational telephone calls to 461 participants randomized to one of the trial arms to encourage lifestyle changes. Weight, diet, physical activity, well-being, quality of life, diabetes-specific self-efficacy, and glycaemic control were measured at baseline, 12 and 24 months. Average mentor age was 62.0 years, 57 (54.8%) were male, 92 (88.5%) were overweight or obese (BMI>30 kg/m²). At 12 months, mentor dietary behaviors (fat and fiber intake) improved significantly, sedentary time spent fell significantly, and diabetes specific self-efficacy scores significantly increased. These significant improvements, with no evidence of harms, suggest lay volunteers with type 2 diabetes codelivering a lifestyle intervention, may themselves experience health benefits from volunteering.

Exploring how Chinese adults living with spinal cord injury viewed the prospect of inpatient peer support programs within a hospital-based rehabilitation setting

STUDY DESIGN

Generic qualitative design.

OBJECTIVES

To explore how Chinese adults living with spinal cord injury (SCI) viewed the prospect of inpatient peer support programs within a rehabilitation setting.

SETTING

Hospital in China.

METHODS

A purposive sample of adult inpatients with SCI (N = 6) currently undergoing rehabilitation was recruited. Each participant was interviewed twice. Twelve interview transcripts were analyzed using a thematic method.

RESULTS

Five higher-order themes were developed. First, participants had unique backgrounds and personal lives before and after their SCI and reported frustrations about their lives resulting from their SCI. Second, participants reported varying degrees of satisfaction with their rehabilitation and identified the facilitators and barriers to their rehabilitation. Third, their perspectives on peer support were shaped by their rehabilitation goals. For example, participants who solely focused on the recovery of physical functioning noted that peers could help to supplement existing rehabilitation programming by guiding their rehabilitation exercises. Participants who concentrated on their future lives believed peers could teach them new skills to facilitate their integration in the community. However, some participants felt they could not trust peers' advice because peers are not healthcare providers. Fourth, peer support delivery options varied from online chat groups (i.e., WeChat), in-person conversations, and mentoring lectures. Finally, anticipated outcomes were related to obtaining practical and emotional support from peers, being motivated, and feeling understood.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants harbored mixed views on potential use-value and necessity of hospital-based peer support programs, which could inform future utilization of SCI peer support within Chinese hospitals.

Social Support and User Characteristics in Online Diabetes Communities: An In-Depth Survey of a Large-Scale Chinese Population

:Objective: To determine the characteristics of members of online diabetes communities as well as those factors affecting the provision and acceptance of social support. Methods: A cross-sectional STAR questionnaire survey was conducted among patients with diabetes who were members of online diabetes groups. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were adopted to explore the relative analysis of providing and accepting social support compared with the characteristics of members in virtual diabetics' groups. Results: A total of 1297 respondents were collected. The map distribution of patients in China was mainly located in the Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Hebei provinces. As for their demographic characteristics, respondents had diabetes or prediabetes and were between the ages of 21 and 50 years (Median age was 35.0 (interquartile range from 28.0 to 44.0)). Most respondents were married and lived in cities. The education level of patients was mainly distributed throughout junior high, technical secondary, high school, junior college, and undergraduate levels. Age, marital status, and education level varied by gender, and the total score of the patients aged 41 to 50 for social support had a statistical significance between male and female. In addition, when group members were in junior high school or below, or were undergraduate students, their total social support scores varied by gender. Binary logistic regression showed that in 21 independent variables the total score and the total score grade of relationship intensity in the online group and reorganize of age were significant. The patients' social support acceptance of the map of respondents score grading of relationship intensity in the online group was 5.420 times higher than that of the lower score grading of relationship intensity in the group. At the same time, the patients' social support acceptance of the patients at the age of less than or equal to 31 years old was 19.608 times higher than that of group members aged more than 31 years old. Conclusion: Age and education background of the patients affects scores of social supports between males and females. The higher the total score and the score grade of relationship intensity in the online group, the higher the patients' social support acceptance. The younger patients had a better utilization of social support.

Can autonomy support have an effect on type 2 diabetes glycemic control? Results of a cluster randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES

To assess whether social support or autonomy support intervention for patients with type 2 diabetes can achieve glycemic control at the end of intervention, and to test whether the glycemic control effect can be maintained for a long time.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

In this cluster randomized controlled trial, 18 community healthcare stations (CHSs) were randomized to the following: (1) usual care group (UCG) offering regular public health management services, (2) social support group (SSG) providing 3-month social support intervention based on problem solving principles, and (3) autonomy support group (ASG) offering 3-month autonomy support intervention based on self-determination theory. A total of 364 patients registered in the CHSs were enrolled into either of the three groups. The primary outcome was hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and secondary outcomes were diabetes self-management (DSM) behaviors. Assessment was conducted at baseline and at 3 and 6 months.

RESULTS

Patients in ASG achieved better HbA1c reduction at the end of intervention (0.53% or 7.23 mmol/mol, p<0.001) than those in the UCG and successfully maintained it up to 6 months (0.42% or 5.41 mmol/mol, p<0.001). However, patients in SSG did not experience significant change in HbA1c at 3 or 6 months when compared with patients in UCG. Besides, patients in both the SSG (0.12, p<0.05) and ASG (0.22, p<0.001) experienced improvement in exercise at 3 months. Patients in ASG sustained improvement in exercise up to 6 months (0.21, p<0.001), but those in the SSG did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Autonomy support for patients with type 2 diabetes could help achieve glycemic control at the end of intervention and successfully maintain it up to 6 months. These findings indicate that autonomy support has positive long-term effects on DSM behaviors and glycemic control and can be recommended in future diabetes intervention programs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR1900024354.

Recruitment, retention, and training of people with type 2 diabetes as diabetes prevention mentors (DPM) to support a healthcare professional-delivered diabetes prevention program: the Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study (NDPS)

OBJECTIVE

Intensive lifestyle interventions reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in populations at highest risk, but staffing levels are usually unable to meet the challenge of delivering effective prevention strategies to a very large at-risk population. Training volunteers with existing type 2 diabetes to support healthcare professionals deliver lifestyle interventions is an attractive option.

METHODS

We identified 141 973 people at highest risk of diabetes in the East of England, screened 12 778, and randomized 1764 into a suite of type 2 diabetes prevention and screen detected type 2 diabetes management trials. A key element of the program tested the value of volunteers with type 2 diabetes, trained to act as diabetes prevention mentors (DPM) when added to an intervention arm delivered by healthcare professionals trained to support participant lifestyle change.

RESULTS

We invited 9951 people with type 2 diabetes to become DPM and 427 responded (4.3%). Of these, 356 (83.3%) were interviewed by phone, and of these 131 (36.8%) were interviewed in person. We then appointed 104 of these 131 interviewed applicants (79%) to the role (mean age 62 years, 55% (n=57) male). All DPMs volunteered for a total of 2895 months, and made 6879 telephone calls to 461 randomized participants. Seventy-six (73%) DPMs volunteered for at least 6 months and 66 (73%) for at least 1 year.

DISCUSSION

Individuals with type 2 diabetes can be recruited, trained and retained as DPM in large numbers to support a group-based diabetes prevention program delivered by healthcare professionals. This volunteer model is low cost, and accesses the large type 2 diabetes population that shares a lifestyle experience with the target population. This is an attractive model for supporting diabetes prevention efforts.

Derivation and external validation of risk algorithms for cerebrovascular (re)hospitalisation in patients with type 2 diabetes: Two cohorts study

AIMS

Cerebrovascular disease is one of more typical reasons for hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation in people with type 2 diabetes. We aimed to derive and externally validate two risk prediction algorithms for cerebrovascular hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation.

METHODS

Two independent cohorts were used to derive and externally validate the two risk scores. The development cohort comprises 4704 patients with type 2 diabetes registered in 18 general practices across Cambridgeshire. The validation cohort includes 1121 type 2 patients from a post-trial cohort data. Outcomes were cerebrovascular hospitalisation within two years and cerebrovascular re-hospitalisation within ninety days of the previous cerebrovascular hospitalisation. Logistic regression was applied to derive the two risk scores for cerebrovascular hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation from development cohort, which were externally validated in the validation cohort.

RESULTS

The incidence of cerebrovascular hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation was 3.76% and 1.46% in the development cohort, and 4.99% and 1.87% in the external validation cohort. Age, gender, body mass index, blood pressures, and lipid profiles were included in the final model. Model discrimination was similar in both cohorts, with all C-statistics > 0.70, and very good calibration of observed and predicted individual risks.

CONCLUSION

Two new risk scores that quantify individual risks of cerebrovascular hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation have been well derived and externally validated. Both scores are on the basis of a few of clinical measurements that are commonly available for patients with type 2 diabetes in primary care settings and could work as tools to identify individuals at high risk of cerebrovascular hospitalisation and re-hospitalisation.

Peer Support Training Improved the Glycemic Control, Insulin Management, and Diabetic Behaviors of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Rural Communities of Central China: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

The efficacy of peer support in Chinese diabetes patients is still uncertain. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of a peer support program on the outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes who received community-based insulin therapy in rural communities of central China.

Material/Methods

Two hundred and eight eligible patients with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned into the traditional training group (control group, n=111) and peer support intervention group (peer group, n=97) between June 2013 and January 2014 in 2 rural communities of Jingzhou area, China. Both groups received 3-month traditional training, followed by another 4-month traditional training or peer support training, respectively. At baseline and 7 months after treatment, the blood glycemic level was evaluated by biochemical detection. Capacities of self-management and knowledge related to insulin usage were assessed by questionnaire survey.

Results

Ninety-seven and ninety patients completed this study in the control group and peer group, respectively. There was no significant difference in age, gender, diabetes duration, insulin usage time, and complications between the 2 groups at baseline (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, peer group patients achieved a more significant decrease in blood glycosylated hemoglobin levels (P<0.05), increase in knowledge related to insulin usage, and increase of diabetes self-management ability (P<0.05).

Conclusions

Peer support intervention effectively improves outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes in rural communities of central China.