Delivering the National Diabetes Prevention Program: Assessment of Retention, Physical Activity, and Weight Loss Outcomes by Participant Characteristics and Delivery Modes

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes disproportionately affects older adults, persons from racial and ethnic minority groups, and persons of low socioeconomic status. It can be prevented or delayed through evidence‐based interventions such as the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program (LCP). This analysis is aimed at evaluating the outcomes (i.e., retention, physical activity, and weight loss) associated with participation in the National DPP LCP by participant characteristics and delivery mode (i.e., in‐person, online, distance learning, and combination) using the 2012–2018 Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP) data. Across all delivery modes, there were generally no substantial differences in retention between male and female participants, but male participants tended to have higher physical activity and weight loss (e.g., average weight loss for in‐person delivery: 5.0% for males and 4.3% for females). Older participants had better retention rates than younger participants in all delivery modes and mostly higher physical activity and weight loss except for distance learning delivery (e.g., average weight loss for in‐person delivery: 5.1% for those aged 65+ and 3.3% for those aged 18–34). Among the seven racial and ethnic groups studied, retention was generally highest for non‐Hispanic/Latino (NH)‐White participants and lowest for Hispanic/Latino participants. Physical activity varied by racial and ethnic groups and delivery mode. NH‐White participants generally had the most weight loss except for distance learning delivery, and NH‐Black/African American participants had the least (e.g., average weight loss for in‐person delivery: 5.1% for NH‐White participants, 3.3% for both NH‐Black/African American and NH‐American Indian/Alaska Native participants, and other racial and ethnic minority groups ranged from 3.4% to 4.9%). Monitoring and identifying disparities across demographics and delivery modes, particularly across multiple racial and ethnic groups, provides information that can be used to improve the implementation of the National DPP LCP by tailoring the intervention to reduce disparities.