Effectiveness of a Virtual Health Management Community (VHMC) for Pre-diabetes in China

Summary

Individuals with prediabetes are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and are therefore prone to serious complications such as stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and lower-limb amputation. Prediabetes can be reversed, and lifestyle modification is considered the most effective intervention for diabetes prevention. However, it is difficult for individuals with prediabetes to maintain long-term healthy lifestyle changes owing to psychological burnout and poor adherence during daily self-management. We developed a novel virtual health management community (VHMC) model based on group interaction management. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether a virtual health management community-based intervention can improve glycemic control and related health outcomes in adults with prediabetes.

Participants in the intervention group will receive lifestyle management support through a virtual health management community, including health education, lifestyle guidance, and group-based interaction delivered via a digital platform.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the virtual health management community intervention group or a usual care control group.

The study will follow participants for approximately 6 months.

Participants in the intervention group will receive lifestyle management support through a virtual health management community, including health education, lifestyle guidance, and group-based interaction delivered via a digital platform.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the virtual health management community intervention group or a usual care control group.

The study will follow participants for approximately 6 months.

Conditions

• Prediabetes

Interventions

OTHER

Usual Care

The control group participants will receive conventional health education including disease-related knowledge, diet skills, exercise skills, comprehensive management goals (for blood glucose, weight, blood pressure, and blood lipids), and general education regarding lifestyle modification, delivered verbally or in the form of pamphlets.

BEHAVIORAL

VHMC-based Group Interaction Management

The intervention group will receive group interaction management based on the Virtual Health Management Community (VHMC) plan. After enrollment, health managers and patients will participate in face-to-face group consultations to clarify roles and responsibilities in self-management and group management, elicit patients' self-motivation statements, and jointly develop meaningful individual- and group-level goals. Health managers will then assist patients in downloading the VHMC platform application and guide them through its modules. After the face-to-face consultations, patients will log into the platform at home to access health information, record diabetes-related daily experiences, participate in community interactions, and implement lifestyle interventions. Health managers will continuously assess participants' progress in knowledge acquisition and lifestyle implementation and provide feedback and guidance throughout the intervention period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

80 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-12-30

Primary Completion

2026-12-30

Completion

2026-12-30