Outcomes of a church-based lifestyle intervention among Australian Samoans in Sydney - Le Taeao Afua diabetes prevention program

Dorothy W Ndwiga; Freya MacMillan; Kate A McBride; Ronda Thompson; Jennifer Reath; Olataga Alofivae-Doorbinia; Penelope Abbott; Charles McCafferty; Marra Aghajani; Elaine Rush; David Simmons

doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2020.108000

Outcomes of a church-based lifestyle intervention among Australian Samoans in Sydney - Le Taeao Afua diabetes prevention program

Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2020 Feb:160:108000. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2020.108000. Epub 2020 Jan 3.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Australia.
² School of Science and Health, Western Sydney University, Australia; Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Translational Research Unit, Western Sydney University, Australia; Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Australia.
³ Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Translational Research Unit, Western Sydney University, Australia; Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Australia; School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Australia.
⁴ School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Australia.
⁵ Powell Street Medical and Dental Practice, Yagoona, Australia.
⁶ Faculty of Health and Environmental Science, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
⁷ Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Translational Research Unit, Western Sydney University, Australia; Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Australia; School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Australia. Electronic address: da.simmons@westernsydney.edu.au.

PMID: 31904445
DOI: 10.1016/j.diabres.2020.108000

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted, church-based lifestyle intervention among Australian Samoans living in Sydney.

Methods: This was a prospective, pre-post study of a church-wide education and support programme delivered by Community Coach Facilitators and Peer Support Facilitators to prevent, and promote self-management of, Type 2 diabetes. Participants completed questionnaires, anthropometric and HbA1c measurements before and 3-8 months after the intervention. The primary outcome was HbA1c.

Results: Overall, 68/107(63.5%) participants completed both before and after intervention data collection (mean age 48.9 ± 14.2 years; 57.2% female). HbA1c dropped significantly between baseline and follow-up among participants with known diabetes (8.1 ± 2.4% (65 mmol/mol) vs 7.4 ± 1.8% (57 mmol/mol); p = 0.040) and non-significantly among participants with newly diagnosed diabetes (8.0 ± 2.1% (64 mmol/mol) vs 7.1 ± 2.3 (54 mmol/mol); p = 0.131). Participants with no diabetes increased their weekly moderate and vigorous physical activity (316.1 ± 291.6mins vs 562.4 ± 486.6mins; p = 0.007) and their diabetes knowledge also improved post-intervention (42.0 ± 13.5% to 61.3 ± 20.2%; p < 0.001). There were no significant reductions in blood pressure, BMI or waist circumference at follow-up.

Conclusions: A structured, church-based, culturally tailored lifestyle intervention showed a number of improvements in diabetes risk among Samoans in Sydney. The intervention however, requires a more rigorous testing in a larger randomised controlled trial over a longer time period.

Keywords: Diet; Exercise; Interventions; Obesity; Readiness to change; Samoans; Type 2 diabetes.

MeSH terms

Adult
Australia
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / prevention & control*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life / psychology*
Religion and Medicine*
Self-Management
Surveys and Questionnaires
Treatment Outcome