Objective: Asian persons have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to non-Hispanic white persons, with approximately two in five individuals being diagnosed. The prevalence of T2D among this population has grown in recent years as Asian persons are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the US. We conducted a meta-analysis of US randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of T2D interventions at improving systolic blood pressure (SBP) , diastolic blood pressure (DBP) , and HbA1c among this population.
Methods: An electronic search of literature in PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Medline was conducted from 1985 to 2019 for studies evaluating T2D interventions among predominantly minority populations. This analysis was limited to RCTs with an average >6% of total participants identifying as Asian, utilizing the 2020 US Census as standard. Interventions focusing on the efficacy of a drug, device, diet, surgery, or procedure were excluded. A random effects meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled effect size of the various outcomes.
Results: Of the articles reviewed, 9 met inclusion criteria. All 9 included HbA1c and 5 included SBP/DBP. Participants were 62.8% Asian and 40.3% female with a mean age of 53.4 years. Interventions included diabetes education programs, utilization of community health workers, bilingual counseling, and cognitive therapy. There was a 0.36% decrease in HbA1c in the experimental group when compared to the control group (95% CI -0.48 to -0.25, p=0.80, I2=0%) . Compared to control, these interventions had minimal effects on SBP (-0.08, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.07, p=0.73, I2=0%) and DBP (0.01, 95% CI -0.22 to 0.25, p=0.23, I2=29%) .
Conclusion: This meta-analysis found that RCTs for T2D in Asian persons modestly lowered HbA1c, with minimal impact on SBP/DBP. Future analysis should include observational studies to evaluate a larger sample and investigate their impact on other markers of health, as well as characterize these effects by level of intervention to inform health policy.
J. Xiao: None. J. Yu: None. A. Deckard: None. W. Wan: n/a. E. M. Staab: None. A. W. Rodriguez: None. R. Shetty: None. N. Laiteerapong: None.