Shared Medical Appointments and Prediabetes: The Power of the Group

Shared medical appointments, which allow greater access to care and provide peer support, may be an effective treatment modality for prediabetes. We used a retrospective propensity-matched cohort analysis to compare patients attending a prediabetes shared medical appointment to usual care. Primary outcome was patient's weight change over 24 months. Secondary outcomes included change in hemoglobin [A.sub.1c], low density lipoprotein, and systolic blood pressure. The shared medical appointments group lost more weight (2.88 kg vs 1.29 kg, P = .003), and achieved greater reduction in hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] (-0.87% vs + 0.87%, P = .001) and systolic blood pressure (-4.35 mmHg vs +0.52 mmHg, P = .044). The shared medical appointment model can be effective in treating prediabetes. Key words: insulin resistance; metabolic syndrome; prediabetic state; shared medical appointments
INTRODUCTION More than 1 in 3 adults have prediabetes, and nearly three-quarters of these will progress to diabetes. (1,2) Diabetic complications such as microvascular dysfunction may already be present in [...]