Comparing Two Ways to Manage Diabetes among African-American Women in the Southeast

This research project is in progress. PCORI will post the research findings on this page within 90 days after the results are final.

What is the research about?

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term illness in which blood sugar levels are too high. African-American women who live in the Southeast are at higher risk for death and serious health problems from diabetes than other women. Diabetes self-care, which includes diet and exercise, can help reduce risks related to diabetes.

Many African-American women with diabetes say that healthy eating is the hardest part of diabetes self-care. Diabetes medical nutrition therapy, or MNT, can help women make healthy food choices and manage their diabetes. Motivational interviewing, or MI, can be used as part of MNT. MI is a counseling method that can help people change their behaviors.

In this study, the research team wants to see how well MNT with or without MI helps African-American women manage their diabetes.

Who can this research help?

Results may help African-American women and their doctors when considering ways to manage diabetes.

What is the research team doing?

The research team is enrolling 291 African-American women with type 2 diabetes from two clinics in Nashville, Tennessee. The team is assigning women by chance to receive MNT alone or with MI. In both groups, a nutritionist leads seven, two-hour group sessions about diabetes self-care over six months.

Women who also receive MI take part in more group sessions to increase their confidence in reaching healthy eating goals. Sessions address topics such as personal values, benefits of healthy eating, and ways to eat healthy at social events.

The research team is checking women’s blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol at the start of the study and again 3, 6, and 12 months later.

African-American women in the Southeast with diabetes are helping to plan and conduct this study.

Research methods at a glance