Funded by Veterans Affairs Health Services Research & Development CDA-2
Funding Years: 2014-2015
Despite the availability of evidence-based strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), engagement in these strategies is low among at-risk Veterans. A key opportunity to engage at-risk Veterans in interventions to prevent T2DM is when they are informed they have prediabetes. It remains unclear how VHA communications to patients diagnosed with prediabetes could be optimized to improve their engagement in evidence-based preventive strategies.
- Aim 1: To describe at-risk Veterans' current engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM and the mediators of this engagement.
- Aim 2: To examine the effects of receipt of a prediabetes diagnosis on at-risk Veterans' weight and engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM.
- Aim 3: To identify the effects of 4 strategies from behavioral economics and health psychology on weight, HbA1c, and engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM among Veterans with prediabetes.
To accomplish Aim 1, we will survey 189 non-diabetic Veterans with risk factors for T2DM about their engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM and mediators of this engagement such as risk perception, motivation, and awareness of and preferences for preventive strategies. To accomplish Aim 2, we will conduct a pilot randomized trial among the same 189 non-diabetic Veterans from Project 1 in which we will randomly assign 126 of these Veterans to undergo screening for T2DM using a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test. The 63 Veterans who we project will have HbA1c values in the prediabetes range will receive that diagnosis and preventive recommendations from their PACT provider via brief standardized counseling. All 189 Veterans will have their weight tracked over the next year and will be surveyed immediately after the screening and brief counseling process, at 3 months, and at 1 year. Then we will compare changes in weight, engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM, and mediators of this engagement between the 63 Veterans who we project will have prediabetes and the 63 Veterans who were not screened. Among the 63 Veterans with prediabetes, we will conduct 20 semi-structured interviews to gain insights into the effects of this diagnosis and brief counseling. To accomplish Aim 3, we will conduct a fractional factorial design experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of 4 innovative strategies from behavioral economics and health psychology in promoting weight loss, decreasing HbA1c, and increasing engagement in behaviors to prevent T2DM among 144 Veterans who are identified as having prediabetes through an HbA1c test. We will conduct qualitative evaluations of the acceptability of these strategies to patients.
PI(s): Jeffrey Kullgren