NCT04869917

Behavioral Nudges for Diabetes Prevention (BEGIN) Trial in Primary Care

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 960 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Northwestern University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

A large body of research has demonstrated that intensive lifestyle interventions and metformin are effective treatments to prevent or delay diabetes among high-risk adults, yet neither treatment is routinely used in practice. The Behavioral Nudges for Diabetes Prevention (BEGIN) Trial will test two low-touch interventions designed to motivate adoption of these treatments to prevent diabetes. Given that 38% of U.S. adults have prediabetes, the proposed study has potential for large public health impact by testing pragmatic, scalable, and sustainable approaches based in primary care to promote evidence-based treatment for this common condition.

Detailed description

Large randomized trials have found that intensive lifestyle interventions (ILI) and metformin are safe and effective treatment options for promoting modest weight loss and preventing type 2 diabetes (T2D) among adults with prediabetes. However, these treatments are rarely used in practice, and little existing research has focused on patient-centered approaches for promoting their use. One potential approach, behavioral nudges, involves manipulating health messages and treatment options to make behavior change more likely and easier to enact. While a large body of evidence suggests that behavioral nudges are effective, they have not been definitively studied for T2D prevention. The study team will address this critical knowledge gap by conducting the Behavioral Nudges for Diabetes Prevention (BEGIN) Trial. The proposed study will take place in primary care clinics, whose unprecedented reach and regular interaction with prediabetic adults make this an ideal setting for translational T2D prevention research. This definitive study will test two low-touch interventions: 1) prediabetes decision aid intervention consisting of a prediabetes decision aid designed to nudge uptake of evidence-based treatments and delivered by health educators; and 2) text messaging intervention consisting of text messages that deliver similar information and use the same behavioral nudges. The proposed R18 study will accomplish the following specific aims to determine the most effective low-touch intervention that promotes maximal treatment adoption and weight loss.

Conditions

• PreDiabetes

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Decision Aid intervention	* Displays information about the benefits and risks of ILI and metformin * Asks open-ended questions: "What am I willing to do to prevent T2D?" and "What do I need to prevent T2D?" * Prompts patients to commit to immediate next steps * Health educator schedules interested patients for first ILI session or sends message to provider about patients' interest in starting metformin, if chosen
BEHAVIORAL	Text Messaging intervention	* Defines prediabetes and includes individualized A1c values * Present benefits and risks of intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin * States that other prediabetic Erie patients are adopting intensive lifestyle intervention and metformin * Encourages initiating intensive lifestyle intervention or discussing metformin with provider * Include selected behavioral content from diabetes prevention program * Initial message with automatic opt-in, allows opt-out for messages * Subsequent messages include: information about T2D risk and treatments; prompts to directly schedule intensive lifestyle intervention or office visit to discuss metformin; selected behavioral content from diabetes prevention programming
BEHAVIORAL	Usual Care	Patients receiving care at non-intervention clinic sites will not be exposed to treatment intervention.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-03-21
• Primary completion: 2025-09-01
• Completion: 2026-09-01
• First posted: 2021-05-03
• Last updated: 2025-11-04

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States