Primary Care Cluster RCT to Increase Diabetes Prevention Program Referrals.

INTRODUCTION: The Diabetes Prevention Program, an intensive lifestyle change program, effectively reduces the risk of progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes but is underutilized. An implementation study using formative research was undertaken to increase Diabetes Prevention Program referrals at a primary care clinic. STUDY DESIGN: A pragmatic, cluster randomized, mixed-methods study. SETTING/PARTICPANTS: Clusters were teams of primary care clinicians from 2 primary care clinics. The 3 intervention clusters had 8-11 clinicians, and the 3 control clusters had 7-20 clinicians. INTERVENTION: Implementation activities occurred from December 2017 to February 2019. The activities included targeted clinician education, a prediabetes clinician champion, and a custom electronic health record report identifying patients with prediabetes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was referral of patients with prediabetes to the institutional Diabetes Prevention Program. Study data, including patient demographic and clinical variables, came from electronic health record. Interviews with clinicians evaluated the implementation strategies. Generalized estimating equation analyses that accounted for multiple levels of correlation and interview content analysis occurred in 2019. RESULTS: Study clinicians cared for 2,992 patients with a prediabetes diagnosis or HbA1c indicative of prediabetes (5.7%-6.4%). Clinicians in the intervention clusters referred 6.9% (87 of 1,262) of patients with prediabetes to the Diabetes Prevention Program and those in the control clusters referred 1.5% (26 of 1,730). When adjusted for patient age, sex, race, HbA1c value, HbA1c test location, and insurance type, intervention clinicians had 3.85 (95% CI=0.40, 36.78) greater odds of referring a patient with prediabetes to the Diabetes Prevention Program. The 11 interviewed intervention clinicians had mixed opinions about the utility of the interventions, reporting the prediabetes clinic champion (n=7, 64%) and educational presentations (n=6, 55%) as most helpful. CONCLUSIONS: Intervention clinicians were more likely to make Diabetes Prevention Program referrals; however, the study lacked power to achieve statistical significance. Clinician interviews suggested that intervention components that triggered Diabetes Prevention Program referrals varied among clinicians.

Prediabetes Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices at an Academic Family Medicine Practice.

PURPOSE: Lifestyle change programs are an effective but underutilized approach to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes. Understanding clinician prediabetes knowledge, attitudes, and practices can inform implementation efforts to increase lifestyle change program referrals. METHODS: We surveyed clinicians at an academic family medicine clinic about their prediabetes knowledge, attitudes, and practices. From the same clinic, we reviewed electronic health records to assess prediabetes screening, diagnosis, and treatment coverage in the cohort of adults seen from 2015 to 2017. RESULTS: Thirty-one clinicians (69.6%) completed the survey. Clinicians believed prediabetes was an important health issue (n = 29; 93.7%) and that prediabetes screening (n = 20, 64.5%) and diagnosis (n = 31, 100%) were important for prediabetes management. About half of the respondents (n = 14; 45.2%) reported familiarity with the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Electronic chart review included 15,520 adult patients. Most of the 5360 nondiabetic patients meeting US Preventive Services Task Force diabetes screening guidelines (n = 4068; 75.9%) received a hemoglobin A1c test. Of the 1437 patients with an A1c result diagnostic of prediabetes, 729 (50.7%) had the diagnosis in their chart. Prediabetes patients receiving point-of-care A1c testing instead of laboratory testing had 4.7 increased odds (95% CI, 3.5 to 6.4) of metformin prescription. No patients were referred to a DPP. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians' positive attitudes toward prediabetes screening, moderate knowledge of prediabetes management, and low awareness of DPPs were reflected by high diabetes screening coverage, limited prediabetes diagnosis, and no DPP referrals. We will tailor our implementation strategy to overcome these prediabetes care barriers.

Patient and Clinician Perceptions of Prediabetes: A Mixed-Methods Primary Care Study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to assess patient and clinician perceptions of prediabetes in an academic family medicine practice. Data were collected in preparation for an implementation study to increase utilization of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (N-DPP). METHODS: In this mixed-methods study, discussions from 3 focus groups composed of patients with prediabetes were evaluated using thematic analysis for their understanding of and beliefs about prediabetes, care experiences, and attitudes toward N-DPP. Clinicians completed a Likert-scaled survey assessing attitudes and perceived barriers to providing prediabetes care. RESULTS: Among the 15 focus group participants, more than half were not aware of their diagnosis. Attitudes toward prediabetes were mixed: while many believed it was serious and elicited more fear than being "at risk," others thought there were varying degrees of risk within the same diagnosis, making the diagnosis less impactful. Patients repeatedly expressed the perception that clinicians were not forthcoming about necessary behavior changes. Patients agreed on barriers to N-DPP, including scheduling and transportation. Clinicians (N = 31) concurred that patients lack awareness of their prediabetes diagnosis. They reported that time is available to screen all patients and that a prediabetes diagnosis is effective for advising patients of the need for lifestyle modification. There was consensus from both patients and clinicians that prediabetes is curable. CONCLUSIONS: Increased patient awareness and patient-centered education is needed to overcome barriers to prediabetes care. To facilitate implementation of N-DPP referral processes, clinicians should clearly communicate risk, treatment information, and linkage to N-DPP as the suggested treatment plan.