A Virtual World Versus Face-to-Face Intervention Format to Promote Diabetes Self-Management Among African American...

Virtual world environments have the potential to increase access to diabetes self-management interventions and may lower cost.

We tested the feasibility and comparative effectiveness of a virtual world versus a face-to-face diabetes self-management group intervention.

We recruited African American women with type 2 diabetes to participate in an 8-week diabetes self-management program adapted from Power to Prevent, a behavior-change in-person group program for African Americans with diabetes or pre-diabetes. The program is social cognitive theory-guided, evidence-based, and culturally tailored. Participants were randomized to participate in the program via virtual world (Second Life) or face-to-face, both delivered by a single intervention team. Blinded assessors conducted in-person clinical (HbA1c), behavioral, and psychosocial measurements at baseline and 4-month follow-up. Pre-post differences within and between intervention groups were assessed using t tests and chi-square tests (two-sided and intention-to-treat analyses for all comparisons).

Participants (N=89) were an average of 52 years old (SD 10), 60% had ≤high school, 82% had household incomes

It is feasible to deliver diabetes self-management interventions to inner city African American women via virtual worlds, and outcomes may be comparable to those of face-to-face interventions. Further effectiveness research is warranted.

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01340079; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01340079 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6T2aSvmka).