We Can Prevent Diabetes: A Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Diabetes Risk in African Americans

Summary

Pre-diabetes, characterized by glucose levels that are above normal but below the diagnostic criteria for diabetes, is an increasingly common condition, particularly among African Americans. Changes in physical activity, changes in diet, and levels of stress influence the course of the disease. Helping individuals to reduce stress and to increase healthy coping strategies may enhance conventional diabetes prevention efforts, especially among African Americans. Mindfulness training is a cost-effective intervention which may be effective in reducing stress and enhancing the ability to make behavioral changes. This exploratory pilot study will examine the potential efficacy of a diabetes prevention education program that includes training in mindfulness-based stress reduction (intervention group) for pre-diabetic African Americans, comparing it to a conventional diabetes prevention program (control group) in the ability to improve glucose metabolism as well as other relevant physiological and psychological secondary outcomes.

Conditions

• Prediabetes

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness-based diabetes prevention education group

The mindfulness-based diabetes prevention group meets for 2 ½ hours per week for eight weeks, with one 4-hour retreat between the 6th and 7th weeks, and monthly booster sessions for 6 months. During the 8-week interventions, this group receives a 30-minute health behavior presentation (based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program). In the mindfulness-based diabetes prevention group, the instruction will be enhanced with a modified mindfulness meditation training designed to support the behavioral-change programming.

BEHAVIORAL

Conventional diabetes prevention education group

The conventional diabetes prevention education group meets for 2 ½ hours per week for eight weeks, with one 4-hour retreat between the 6th and 7th weeks, and monthly booster sessions for 6 months. During the 8-week interventions, the group receives a 30-minute health behavior presentation (based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program). In the conventional diabetes prevention group, the instruction will be enhanced with group exercises and discussions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Susan Gaylord, PhD · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-02-28

Primary Completion

2012-02-29

Completion

2012-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations