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Table 2 Evidence synthesis on differential effect analyses by PROGRESS-Plus factors

From: Quality improvement strategies at primary care level to reduce inequalities in diabetes care: an equity-oriented systematic review

Study, country

PROGRESS-factor

Intervention type

Outcome

Method of analysis

Overall intervention effect

Differential effect

Anderson 2010 [61]

USA

Spanish speaking only, education level

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions:

2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• telephonic disease management (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) based on:

1. brief clinical assessment

2. self-management: including diet, exercise, stress reduction,

smoking cessation, readiness assessment, and development

of specific self-management goals

3. medication adherence

4. glucose monitoring and review of home glucose monitoring results

• educational materials

Personnel involved: nurse

Control group:

• Usual care at Community Health Center

A1c, DBP,SBP, BMI, LDL, diet behavior (BDA); physical activity (RAPA); depression measured Patient Health questionnaire (PHQ-9)

Subroups analysis and interaction analysis

No significant differences between groups for any outcomes

Retention rate

79% vs 64%

A1C

Spanish speakers (yes vs no)

MD = − 0.10(− 0.53, 0.33) vs 0.35(− 0.17, 0.88)

Educational level:

(high level vs low level)

MD = 0.14(− 0.30, 0.57) vs 0.00(− 0.52, 0.52)

None of the interactions was significant

Anderson-Loftin 2005 [37]

USA

Gender

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions:

2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• Education in low fat dietary strategies (4 weekly classes)

• 1-h peer-professional discussion groups (5 monthly)

• Additional educational support by phone (weekly)

• Incentives for attendance

Personnel involved: nurse case manager

Control group:

• Usual care including a referral to a local 8-h traditional diabetes class (information on nature and complications of diabetes)

• Incentives for attendance

A1c, BMI, LDL, weight, dietary fat behaviors assessed by FHQ, physical activity, psychological status

Stratification by gender

A1c

No significant differences

Mean weight

Significant effect

I: - 4 lb.

C: + 4.2 lb.

BMI

I: − 0.81 kg/mm2

C: +  0.57 kg/mm2

MD = 1.38 kg/mm2

p = 0.009

Dietary behaviors (FHQ score)

I: 2.5 ± 0.4

C: 2.6 ± 0.4

MD = 0.2

p = 0.005

Men vs women

A1c

No significant differences

Mean weight

Significant effect

+ 5.4 lb. vs − 1.5 lb.;

MD = 6.9 lb.

BMI

+ 2 kg/mm2 vs 0.16 kg/mm2

p = 0.02

Dietary behaviors

Significant effect

(FHQ score)

− 0.24 vs − 0.17

Babamoto 2009 [58]

USA

Age

Healthcare level

Number of experimental conditions: 3 (2 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• Group A, CHW program, Amigos en Salud (Friends in Health): education through individual session and monitoring services; individual sessions with participants and family member; telephone calls to participants to monitor self-management, to help participants improve their diabetes self-management skills

• Group B, case management: education from two linguistically competent and culturally sensitive. Patients case management were usually seen on a monthly basis + follow-up calls.

Personnel involved: bilingual, trained community health workers, nurse case manager

Setting: Community, home, clinic

Control group

Standard Provider Care: standardized clinical care by physicians and nurse practitioners, without case management or CHW services

BMI, A1C, medication adherence, diet, physical activity, emergency department admission (ED)

Logistic regression models

Mean A1c

Within group

CHW = 8.6 to 7.2%; p < 0.05

CM =8.5 to 7.4%; p < 0.05

Standard care = 9.5 to 7.4%;p < 0.05

No significant differences were found between groups

BMI Significantly greater decrease for the CHW group compared with the standard care group OR = 2.9 (95% CI 1.1–6.6)

ED

Change from baseline CHW: total visit decrease 11%

Case management: total visit increase 40% Standard care: increase 15%

between groups at 6-month follow-up p < 0.05

Diet

CHW group were more likely (OR = 2.43; 95% CI =1.13–5.23) to report having two or more servings of fresh fruit per day than standard care

Physical activity

CHW group was more likely (OR = 2.87, 95% CI = 1.34–6.17) than standard care to report exercising three or more times per week

Patients aged≥50 were less likely to have reduced BMI at follow-up

ORa = 0.4 (95% CI = 0.2–0.8)

Exercise frequencyb 3 times or more per week vs 2 times or fewer per week

OR = 2.2 (95% CI = 1.1–4.1)

Brown, 2011 [63]

USA

Gender

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions: 2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• Diabetes self-management education (DSME) including 8 consecutive weeks of education followed by a support group session at 3 and 6 months

• Experienced NCM providing: culturally tailored diabetes self-management education; individualized health guidance and assistance with overcoming cultural and environmental barriers to improving health; guidance on locating, accessing, and navigating healthcare services; enhanced coordination of health care and communication with physicians and other healthcare providers

• Random observations visits

Personnel involved: bilingual NCM, nurses, dietitians, and CHWs

Control Group: DSME intervention only

A1c, FBG, lipids, BP, BMI, diabetes-related knowledge, health behaviors (physical activity, dietary intake, glucose monitoring)

Interaction terms in hierarchical linear and nonlinear models to test for differential impact of treatment by gender

Over time, both the experimental and control groups showed improvements in FBG levels at three and

At six months

For A1c the control group had greater clinical improvements at both intervals

Self-reported physical activity and fat intake

Improvement for both experimental and control groups

FBG, BMI:

No significant differences between gender

The rate of change in A1c over time did not differ significantly by gender (coefficient^ = − 0.06, t ratio = 0.25, p = 0.806)

Forjuoh 2014 [64]

USA

Race/ethnicity

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions: 4 (3 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• Group A. self-management through personal digit assistant (PDA). Diabetes Pilot Chronic Disease Self Management Program (CDSMP): 6 week group education program to increase self efficacy

• Group B. self-management through PDA

• Group C. combination of A + B

Personnel involved: trained facilitator, project coordinators

Setting: outpatient clinic, community

Control group: usual clinical diabetes care, along with patient education materials

A1C, physical activity, BMI, BP, diet

Interaction terms in multilevel models to test for differential impact of treatment by race/ethnicity

BMI and BP: Modest reductions from baseline to 12 months of follow-up for all four groups.

No significant difference for other outcomes.

Self care activities:

Hispanic washing feet significantly more than other racial/ethnic groups (P = 0.02)

Retention rate:

CDSMP: 85%; PDA 64%, CDSMP + PDA 64%; Control 78%

A1c

Modest reductions occurred in A1c from baseline to 12 months of follow-up for all/ethnic groups.

There was no significant difference in A1c change over time by race/ethnicity.

Gerber 2005 [36]

USA

Health literacy

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions:

2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

Education by computer multi-media including audio/video sequences (“Living Well with Diabetes”) to communicate information, provide psychosocial support and promote self-management. Subject received compensation based on computer usage. Lessons in English and Spanish. Navigation provided through a simplified interface, including forward/backward buttons for user control. Advanced features included “pop-up” supplementary text information or additional testimonials related to the concurrent screen concept

Personnel involved: bilingual research assistant

Setting: urban outpatient clinics

Control group: simple multiple-choice quizzes on diabetes-related concepts

A1c, BMI, BP, eye exam, diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy, self-reported medical care, and perceived susceptibility to complications

Stratification by level of health literacy

No significant differences for all outcomes but perceived susceptibility to diabetes complications

Lower literacy group

% change A1c

− 0.21 ± 2.0 vs − 0.1% ± 1.3

MD = − 0.10 [− 0.67, 0.47]

People with A1c > 9%

− 2.1 vs − 0.3 (p = 0.036)

Perceived susceptibility to complications

% change score=

1.48 ± 2.7 vs 0.19 ± 2.5 (p = 0.016)

Self-efficacy

trend toward greater improvement in self-efficacy

1.51 ± 1.5 vs. 0.99 ± 1.4

(p = 0.113)

Higher literacy

% change A1c

+ 0.3% ± 1.6 vs. -0.5 ± 1.5

MD = 0.80 [0.22, 1.38]

Perceived susceptibility to complications

0.76 ± 2.5 vs. 0.29 ± 2.4 (p = 0.267)

Medical care Improvement over time (p < 0.012 for time interaction)

but no effect for either lower- or higher-literacy groups

Sixta 2008 [28]

USA

age

Healthcare level

Number of experimental conditions: 2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

Diabetes culturally self-management education with group sessions

Personnel involved: promotores in consultation with a care team

Control group:Usual care delivered by provider at the clinic or to a self-care management

A1C, knowledge, beliefs

Stratified analysis by age

A1C, knowledge, beliefs

A1C

No difference between groups

DKQ, HBQ.

No difference between groups

DKQ, HBQ, and HbA1c results were significantly affected by age;

Slightly negative effect on DKQ scores per year of age.

Slightly negative effect on HBQ scores and HbA1c levels per year of age

West 2007 [70]

USA

Race/ethnicity

Patient level

Number of experimental conditions:

2 (1 intervention, 1 control)

Intervention:

• 42 group session of behavioral weight control program focusing on attainable and sustainable changes in dietary and physical activity habits

• Motivational interviewing: 5 individual sessions lasted 45 min

Personnel involved: Behaviorist, nutritionist, diabetes educator, trained clinical psychologist

Setting: outpatient clinic

Control group: health education sessions with focus on women’s health topics

A1C, glucose monitoring

The weight patterns over time by race were examined using a two-factor repeated measures ANOVA stratified by treatment

Weight

At 6 months

Means: − 4.7 ± 5.4 kg vs − 3.1 ± 3.9 kg (p = 0.03)

Over 18 months:

Means: − 3.5 ± 6.8 Kg vs − 1.7 ± 5.7Kg (p = 0.04)

A1C

Decrease in both groups (p < 0.0001) at 6 months but not sustained at 18 months

Greater decrease in the intervention than in the control group (p = 0.002)

Weight at 6 months regardless treatment:

African-American vs White

-3 kg ± 3.9 vs. -4.5 ± 5.1 kg (p = 0.03)

Weight at 12 months regardless treatment::

− 2.3 kg ± 4.4 vs − 4.6 ± 6.8 kg (p = 0.09)

Weight at 18 months regardless treatment:

− 1.4 kg ± 4.7 vs − 3.3 ± 7.1 kg (p = 0.09)

For African-American experimental intervention produced greater weight loss than control group at 3 and 6 months. The benefit was not sustained after 12 months

A1c

African American had high A1c values regardless of treatment assignment. No interaction by race Attendance between groups was comparable.

  1. Data are means ± SD; I intervention group, C control group, OR odds ratio, A1c, Glycated hemoglobin; BMI Body Mass Index, LDL low density cholesterol, BP blood pressure, SBP systolic blood pressure, DBP diastolic blood pressure, MD mean difference, FHQ food habit questionnaire, PHQ-9 Patient Health Questionnaire, DSME Diabetes self-management education, DKQ diabetes knowledge questionnaire, HBQ Health Beliefs Questionnaire
  2. amultivariate analysis adjusted for study group, gender, dietary, exercise activity; bunivariate analysis (did not persist after the other covariates were controlled for); ^b = regression coefficient