Texting Intervention for Diabetes

Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)

+3 other locations

Overseen byStephanie L Shimada, PhD

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Travel: May Be Covered

Time Reimbursement: Varies

Trial Phase: Academic

Waitlist Available

Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development

No Placebo Group

Trial Summary

What is the purpose of this trial?

One way to help Veterans improve their diabetes control is through the use of technology to help provide information, motivation, and reminders necessary to support diabetes self-management. The study will seek input from diverse groups of Veterans living with diabetes to help develop DD-TXT, a new customizable, interactive texting intervention that allows Veterans to choose what kinds of diabetes self-management support they need, and when. This diabetes support will be provided to Veterans through "Annie", a new VA texting system for self-management support. Patients will be randomized to receive DD-TXT or an education-only texting intervention called DSE that is based on standard diabetes self-management education content in order to test the comparative effectiveness of DD-TXT.

Eligibility Criteria

This trial is for Veterans with type 2 diabetes who have struggled to control their blood sugar levels. They must be scheduled for a future appointment, able to text, and not visually impaired. Participants need access to a cell phone or smartphone and at least four VA outpatient visits in the past year.

Inclusion Criteria

Have a future appointment scheduled, and not be hospitalized or institutionalized or have participated in Aim 1 DD-TXT development

Your blood sugar has not been well controlled for at least half of the 6 months before joining the study.

Have had at least 4 VA outpatient encounters in the previous year

See 4 more

Exclusion Criteria

Non-Veterans

Treatment Details

Interventions

DD-TXT (Behavioral Intervention)
DSE (Behavioral Intervention)

Trial OverviewThe study tests DD-TXT, an interactive texting intervention that helps Veterans manage their diabetes via 'Annie', a VA texting system. It's compared against DSE, an education-only text based on a diabetes workbook. Patients are randomly assigned to one of these two interventions.

Participant Groups

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: DD-TXTExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Participants in this group were signed up for an interactive, tailored self-management texting protocol (DD-TXT). The DD-TXT protocol consisted of the same daily educational content as the DSE arm augmented by the following: regular two-way check-in messages about diabetes self-management behaviors, an invitation to receive messages written by other Veterans living with diabetes on demand, and a menu of optional and customizable modules (e.g., medication reminders, blood sugar and blood pressure monitoring,: physical activity reminders, weight management, and goal setting) from which participants could select messaging that supported their diabetes self-management goals. Patients could customize the timing and frequency of their messages. DD-TXT participants also received a once monthly message asking whether the messages had been helpful.

Group II: DSEActive Control1 Intervention

Participants in the comparison condition were signed up for a one-way education-only protocol called Diabetes Skilled Education-Only (DSE). DSE was comprised of 6 months of once daily one-way text messages covering standard diabetes self-management education content. Starting with the VA educational workbook entitled "Self-Care Skills for the Person with Diabetes", created in alignment with VA/DoD diabetes guidelines, we enhanced the educational content by incorporating Veteran input through a co-design process with Veterans living with diabetes and expert clinician review. DSE messages could not be customized. There was no interactive content for the DSE arm other than a once monthly message asking whether the messages had been helpful.