BACKGROUND
Behavioral factors such as lifestyle have been shown to explain approximately 24% of the excess risk of chronic kidney disease among African Americans.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this study was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention in African Americans with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
METHODS
A pre-post design was used to test the feasibility of a lifestyle intervention in African American adults recruited from Medical University of South Carolina. Clinical outcomes (hemoglobin A1c, blood pressure and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)) were measured at baseline and post-intervention. Disease knowledge, self-care and behavior outcomes were also measured using validated structured questionnaires at baseline and post-intervention. Descriptive statistics and effect sizes were calculated to determine clinically important changes from baseline.
RESULTS
Significant pre-post mean differences and decreases were observed for HbA1c (mean 0.75, p=0.01), total cholesterol (mean 16.38, p<0.01), low density lipoprotein (mean 13.73, p<0.01) and eGFR (mean 6.73, p=0.02). Significant pre-post mean differences and increases were observed for CKD self-efficacy (mean -11.15, p=0.03), CKD knowledge (mean -2.62, p<0.01), exercise behavior (mean -1.21, p<0.01) and blood sugar testing (mean -2.15, p<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS
This study provides preliminary data for a large-scale appropriately powered, randomized control trial to examine a culturally tailored lifestyle intervention in African Americans to improve clinical, knowledge and self-care behavior outcomes in this population.