Premium
Effect of peer support on diabetes distress: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Author(s) -
Ju C.,
Shi R.,
Yao L.,
Ye X.,
Jia M.,
Han J.,
Yang T.,
Lu Q.,
Jin H.,
Cai X.,
Yuan S.,
Xie B.,
Yu X.,
Coufal M. M.,
Fisher E. B.,
Sun Z.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/dme.13625
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , distress , randomized controlled trial , peer support , type 2 diabetes , postprandial , cluster randomised controlled trial , peer education , physical therapy , health education , psychiatry , endocrinology , clinical psychology , public health , nursing
Aim To investigate whether peer support would reduce diabetes distress and improve glycaemic control when added to usual diabetes education among adults with Type 2 diabetes in China. Methods We conducted a cluster randomized trial involving 400 adults with Type 2 diabetes from eight communities in Nanjing. All participants received usual education for an average of 2 h each month from physicians, certified diabetes educators, dieticians, psychologists and podiatric nurses. Peer support was led by trained peer leaders and included diabetes knowledge‐ and skills‐sharing at least once a month, as well as peer‐to‐peer communication. The primary outcome was diabetes distress measured using the Diabetes Distress Scale at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included fasting plasma glucose, 2‐h postprandial glucose and HbA 1c concentration. Outcome data were collected from all participants at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Results From 2012 to 2013, there were 200 participants in each study arm at baseline. Compared with the usual education arm, the peer support with usual education arm had greater reductions in regimen‐related distress (1.4 ± 0.6 vs 1.2 ± 0.4; P =0.004) and total distress (1.3 ± 0.4 vs 1.2 ± 0.3; P =0.038) at 6 months. At 12 months, the scores for emotional burden (1.2 ± 0.3 vs 1.4 ± 0.6; P =0.002), physician‐related distress (1.1 ± 0.3 vs 1.3 ± 0.4; P =0.001) and total scores (1.2 ± 0.3 vs 1.3 ± 0.4; P =0.002) were significantly lower in the peer support with usual education arm than in the usual education arm. Fasting plasma glucose levels were lower in the peer support with usual education arm than in the usual education arm at 6 months (7.5 ± 1.95 vs 8.0 ± 2.2; P =0.044) and 12 months (7.0 ± 2.3 vs 7.6 ± 1.5; P =0.008). Conclusions Beyond the benefits of usual education, peer support was effective in reducing diabetes distress for Type 2 diabetes mellitus. (Clinical Trials Registry no: NCT02119572)