The long-term effect of intentional weight loss on changes in bone mineral density in persons with type 2 diabetes: results from the Look AHEAD randomized trial

Intentional weight loss has been shown to increase bone loss short term but the long-term effects are not known. Data from the Look AHEAD clinical trial shows that a long term intentional weight loss intervention was associated with greater bone loss at the hip in men.

PURPOSE

Intentional weight loss has been shown to increase bone loss short term and increase frailty fracture risk, but the long-term effects on bone mineral density (BMD) are not known.

METHODS

Data from a subgroup from the Look AHEAD (LA) multicenter, randomized clinical trial was used to evaluate whether a long term intentional weight loss intervention would increase bone loss. In a preplanned substudy, BMD was assessed at 5 of the 16 LA clinical centers using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at baseline, year 8, and the observational visit 12.6-16.3 years after randomization (year 12-16).

RESULTS

At year 8, bone density loss (%) was greater in the Intensive Lifestyle Intervention (ILI) group compared with the control group (DSE) for the femoral neck (p = 0.0122) but this finding was not observed at the year 12-16 visit. In analyses stratified by gender, bone density loss (%) was greater at the total hip for men in the ILI group than the DSE group at both the year 8 and year 12-16 visits (year 8 p = 0.0263 and year 12-16 p = 0.0062). This finding was not observed among women.

CONCLUSION

Long term intentional weight loss was associated with greater bone loss at the hip in men. These results taken with the previously published Look AHEAD data from the entire clinical trial showing increased frailty fracture risk with weight loss in the ILI group suggest that when intentional weight loss is planned, consideration of bone density preservation and fracture prevention strategies is warranted.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00017953. June 21, 2001.

Association of Metformin With the Development of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Importance

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness with no treatment available for early stages. Retrospective studies have shown an association between metformin and reduced risk of AMD.

Objective

To investigate the association between metformin use and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design, Setting, and Participants

The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study is a cross-sectional follow-up phase of a large multicenter randomized clinical trial, Diabetes Prevention Program (1996-2001), to investigate the association of treatment with metformin or an intensive lifestyle modification vs placebo with preventing the onset of type 2 diabetes in a population at high risk for developing diabetes. Participants with retinal imaging at a follow-up visit 16 years posttrial (2017-2019) were included. Analysis took place between October 2019 and May 2022.

Interventions

Participants were randomly distributed between 3 interventional arms: lifestyle, metformin, and placebo.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Prevalence of AMD in the treatment arms.

Results

Of 1592 participants, 514 (32.3%) were in the lifestyle arm, 549 (34.5%) were in the metformin arm, and 529 (33.2%) were in the placebo arm. All 3 arms were balanced for baseline characteristics including age (mean [SD] age at randomization, 49 [9] years), sex (1128 [71%] male), race and ethnicity (784 [49%] White), smoking habits, body mass index, and education level. AMD was identified in 479 participants (30.1%); 229 (14.4%) had early AMD, 218 (13.7%) had intermediate AMD, and 32 (2.0%) had advanced AMD. There was no significant difference in the presence of AMD between the 3 groups: 152 (29.6%) in the lifestyle arm, 165 (30.2%) in the metformin arm, and 162 (30.7%) in the placebo arm. There was also no difference in the distribution of early, intermediate, and advanced AMD between the intervention groups. Mean duration of metformin use was similar for those with and without AMD (mean [SD], 8.0 [9.3] vs 8.5 [9.3] years; P = .69). In the multivariate models, history of smoking was associated with increased risks of AMD (odds ratio, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.05-1.61; P = .02).

Conclusions and Relevance

These data suggest neither metformin nor lifestyle changes initiated for diabetes prevention were associated with the risk of any AMD, with similar results for AMD severity. Duration of metformin use was also not associated with AMD. This analysis does not address the association of metformin with incidence or progression of AMD.

Association of Intensive Lifestyle and Metformin Interventions With Frailty in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study

BACKGROUND

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome of decreased physiologic reserve and resistance to stressors that results in increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes with aging. Diabetes and hyperglycemia are established risk factors for frailty. We sought to examine whether the odds of frailty among individuals at high risk of diabetes randomized to treatment with intensive lifestyle (ILS), metformin, or placebo differed after long-term follow-up.

METHOD

The sample comprised participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) clinical trial, who continued follow-up in the DPP Outcomes Study (DPPOS) and completed frailty assessments in DPPOS Years 8 (n = 2385) and 10 (n = 2289), approximately 12 and 14 years after DPP randomization. Frailty was classified using Fried Frailty Phenotype criteria. GEE models adjusting for visit year with repeated measures pooled for Years 8 and 10 were used to estimate pairwise odds ratios (ORs) between ILS, metformin, and placebo for the outcomes of frail and prefrail versus nonfrail.

RESULTS

Frailty prevalence by treatment group was ILS = 3.0%, metformin = 5.4%, placebo = 5.7% at Year 8, and ILS = 3.6%, metformin = 5.3%, placebo = 5.4% at Year 10. Odds ratios (95% CI) estimated with GEE models were ILS versus placebo, 0.62 (0.42-0.93), p = .022; metformin versus placebo, 0.99 (0.69-1.42), p = .976; and ILS versus metformin, 0.63 (0.42-0.94), p = .022. Odds of being frail versus nonfrail were 37% lower for ILS compared to metformin and placebo.

CONCLUSIONS

Early ILS intervention, at an average age of about 50 years, in persons at high risk of diabetes may reduce frailty prevalence in later life. Metformin may be ineffective in reducing frailty prevalence.

CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBERS

NCT00004992 (DPP) and NCT00038727 (DPPOS).

Changes in mood and health-related quality of life in Look AHEAD 6 years after termination of the lifestyle intervention

OBJECTIVE

The Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study previously reported that intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) reduced incident depressive symptoms and improved health-related quality of life (HRQOL) over nearly 10 years of intervention compared with a control group (the diabetes support and education group [DSE]) in participants with type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity. The present study compared incident depressive symptoms and changes in HRQOL in these groups for an additional 6 years following termination of the ILI in September 2012.

METHODS

A total of 1,945 ILI participants and 1,900 DSE participants completed at least one of four planned postintervention assessments at which weight, mood (via the Patient Health Questionnaire-9), antidepressant medication use, and HRQOL (via the Medical Outcomes Scale, Short Form-36) were measured.

RESULTS

ILI participants and DSE participants lost 3.1 (0.3) and 3.8 (0.3) kg [represented as mean (SE); p = 0.10], respectively, during the 6-year postintervention follow-up. No significant differences were observed between groups during this time in incident mild or greater symptoms of depression, antidepressant medication use, or in changes on the physical component summary or mental component summary scores of the Short Form-36. In both groups, mental component summary scores were higher than physical component summary scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Prior participation in the ILI, compared with the DSE group, did not appear to improve subsequent mood or HRQOL during 6 years of postintervention follow-up.

Abstract P642: Original and Revised Framingham Stroke Risk Profile Performance in a South Texas Bi-Ethnic Cohort

Introduction: The original Framingham Stroke Risk Profile (oFSRP) was designed to predict first-time, 10-year stroke risk and has been updated as the revised FSRP (rFSRP) to reflect current temporal trends in stroke. We assessed the performance of both profiles in a South Texas bi-ethnic cohort which includes European Americans (EA) and Mexican Americans (MA).

Methods: Both profiles were calculated from a sample of the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA) cohort and included 439 subjects (69.4 +/-3.3 years), 265 (60%) women, and 225 (51%) MA. All subjects were aged 65 and older, stroke-free at baseline examination performed from 1992-1996, and followed for up to 12 years. Calibration of both profiles was assessed using the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test and by comparing the expected with the observed 10-year stroke risks. C-statistics were calculated for the overall SALSA cohort and subgroups by sex and ethnicity with outcome of first-time stroke.

Results: After a mean follow-up of 9.3 +/- 2.0 years, a total of 55 (12.6%) stroke events occurred. Predicted stroke risks using the oFSRP and rFSRP were 13.2% and 9.1%, respectively (Table). Overall, neither profile demonstrated good calibration (p<0.001); however, by subgroup analysis, the rFSRP had good calibration for stroke events in men (p=.07), women (p=0.14), MA (p=0.08) and EA (p=0.64) (Table). The rFSRP and oFSRP c-statistics for stroke events were 0.81 (0.79-0.82) and 0.78 (0.75-0.80), respectively.

Conclusions: Compared to the oFSRP, the rFSRP signaled better fit and discriminative ability for predicting 10-year stroke risk in our SALSA cohort sample. Although the rFSRP downgraded stroke risk, our sample spanned the 1990s and early 2000s and thus, may not represent current healthy lifestyle and stroke prevention trends. Our findings support the use of the rFSRP, rather than the oFSRP, for MA in South Texas and highlight the need for further studies with ongoing multi-ethnic cohorts.

Within-Trial Cost-Effectiveness of a Structured Lifestyle Intervention in Adults With Overweight/Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: Results From the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) Study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the cost-effectiveness (CE) of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) compared with standard diabetes support and education (DSE) in adults with overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes, as implemented in the Action for Health in Diabetes study.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Data were from 4,827 participants during their first 9 years of study participation from 2001 to 2012. Information on Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI-2) and HUI-3, Short-Form 6D (SF-6D), and Feeling Thermometer (FT), cost of delivering the interventions, and health expenditures was collected during the study. CE was measured by incremental CE ratios (ICERs) in costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). Future costs and QALYs were discounted at 3% annually. Costs were in 2012 U.S. dollars.

RESULTS

Over the 9 years studied, the mean cumulative intervention costs and mean cumulative health care expenditures were $11,275 and $64,453 per person for ILI and $887 and $68,174 for DSE. Thus, ILI cost $6,666 more per person than DSE. Additional QALYs gained by ILI were not statistically significant measured by the HUIs and were 0.07 and 0.15, respectively, measured by SF-6D and FT. The ICERs ranged from no health benefit with a higher cost based on HUIs to $96,458/QALY and $43,169/QALY, respectively, based on SF-6D and FT.

CONCLUSIONS

Whether ILI was cost-effective over the 9-year period is unclear because different health utility measures led to different conclusions.

Inpatient Culture and Satisfaction With Care: A Novel Perspective

BACKGROUND

Hospital professionals must attend to patients' satisfaction with care. Along with technical quality of care, patients' personal characteristics may affect that satisfaction, but standard demographics research often overlooks cultural links.

METHODS

We, therefore, asked 58 San Antonio, Texas, inpatients their satisfaction with care and examined responses for attitudes related to ethnic-Mexican-American (MA), Euro-American (EA), or African-American (AA)-and gender cultures.

RESULTS

Many attitudes occurred widely. Most respondents expected doctors to attend them faithfully, inform them honestly, and pursue their needs and wishes singularly. Most also trusted doctors, and expressed satisfaction with doctors' generally exemplary character and service ethic. But most respondents also feared hospital treatments, and some expressed dissatisfaction that doctors had inadequately informed them or ignored their wishes. Only rare attitudes distinguished particular ethnic-gender groups. Unlike other groups few EA or AA men expressed dissatisfactions. But some MA and EA women said hospitals use too many caregivers or coordinate care poorly. Furthermore, most AA women expressed no explicit trust in doctors, and most EA women expressed actual distrust of doctors, often doubting their technical competence or altruism.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest a novel perspective: a unique inpatient culture, largely unaffected by ethnic group or gender. Patients interpret their hospital experience through that culture. Hospital professionals might respond with both universal measures (addressing patients' fears, dissatisfactions, and distrust) and targeted ones (explicitly asking EA and AA men about dissatisfactions, and AA and EA women about distrust). Such culturally grounded measures may help maintain or increase inpatients' satisfaction.

Impact of an 8-Year Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on an Index of Multimorbidity

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity are sometimes described as conditions that accelerate aging. Multidomain lifestyle interventions have shown promise to slow the accumulation of age-related diseases, a hallmark of aging. However, they have not been assessed among at-risk individuals with these two conditions. We examined the relative impact of 8 years of a multidomain lifestyle intervention on an index of multimorbidity.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled clinical trial comparing an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) that targeted weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity with a control condition of diabetes support and education (DSE).

SETTING

Sixteen U.S. academic centers.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 5,145 volunteers, aged 45 to 76, with established type 2 diabetes mellitus and overweight or obesity who met eligibility criteria for a randomized controlled clinical trial.

MEASUREMENTS

A multimorbidity index that included nine age-related chronic diseases and death was tracked over 8 years of intervention delivery.

RESULTS

Among individuals assigned to DSE, the multimorbidity index scores increased by an average of .98 (95% confidence interval [CI] = .94-1.02) over 8 years, compared with .89 (95% CI = .85-.93) among those in the multidomain ILI, which was a 9% difference (P = .003). Relative intervention effects were similar among individuals grouped by baseline body mass index, age, and sex, and they were greater for those with lower levels of multimorbidity index scores at baseline.

CONCLUSIONS

Increases in multimorbidity over time among adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus may be slowed by multidomain ILI. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:2249-2256, 2020.

Intensive Weight Loss Intervention and Cancer Risk in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: Analysis of the Look AHEAD Randomized Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to determine whether intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) aimed at weight loss lowers cancer incidence and mortality.

METHODS

Data from the Look AHEAD trial were examined to investigate whether participants randomized to ILI designed for weight loss would have reduced overall cancer incidence, obesity-related cancer incidence, and cancer mortality, as compared with the diabetes support and education (DSE) comparison group. This analysis included 4,859 participants without a cancer diagnosis at baseline except for nonmelanoma skin cancer.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up of 11 years, 684 participants (332 in ILI and 352 in DSE) were diagnosed with cancer. The incidence rates of obesity-related cancers were 6.1 and 7.3 per 1,000 person-years in ILI and DSE, respectively, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.84 (95% CI: 0.68-1.04). There was no significant difference between the two groups in total cancer incidence (HR, 0.93; 95% CI: 0.80-1.08), incidence of nonobesity-related cancers (HR, 1.02; 95% CI: 0.83-1.27), or total cancer mortality (HR, 0.92; 95% CI: 0.68-1.25).

CONCLUSIONS

An ILI aimed at weight loss lowered incidence of obesity-related cancers by 16% in adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes. The study sample size likely lacked power to determine effect sizes of this magnitude and smaller.

Weight Change 2 Years After Termination of the Intensive Lifestyle Intervention in the Look AHEAD Study

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated weight changes after cessation of the 10-year intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) study. It was hypothesized that ILI participants would be more likely to gain weight during the 2-year observational period following termination of weight-loss-maintenance counseling than would participants in the diabetes support and education (DSE) control group.

METHODS

Look AHEAD was a randomized controlled trial that compared the effects of ILI and DSE on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in participants with overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes. Look AHEAD was converted to an observational study in September 2012.

RESULTS

Two years after the end of the intervention (EOI), ILI and DSE participants lost a mean  (SE) of 1.2  (0.2) kg and 1.8  (0.2) kg, respectively (P = 0.003). In addition, 31% of ILI and 23.9% of DSE participants gained ≥ 2% (P < 0.001) of EOI weight, whereas 36.3% and 45.9% of the respective groups lost ≥ 2% of EOI weight (P = 0.001). Two years after the EOI, ILI participants reported greater use of weight-control behaviors than DSE participants.

CONCLUSIONS

Both groups lost weight during the 2-year follow-up period, but more ILI than DSE participants gained ≥ 2% of EOI weight. Further understanding is needed of factors that affected long-term weight change in both groups.

History of Cardiovascular Disease, Intensive Lifestyle Intervention, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in the Look AHEAD Trial

OBJECTIVE

To examine the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on cardiovascular disease (CVD), the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) trial randomized 5,145 participants with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity to a ILI or diabetes support and education. Although the primary outcome did not differ between the groups, there was suggestive evidence of heterogeneity for prespecified baseline CVD history subgroups (interaction P = 0.063). Event rates were higher in the ILI group among those with a CVD history (hazard ratio 1.13 [95% CI: 0.90-1.41]) and lower among those without CVD (hazard ratio 0.86 [95% CI: 0.72-1.02]).

METHODS

This study conducted post hoc analyses of the rates of the primary composite outcome and components, adjudicated cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and hospitalization for angina, as well as three secondary composite cardiovascular outcomes.

RESULTS

Interaction P values for the primary and two secondary composites were similar (0.060-0.064). Of components, the interaction was significant for nonfatal MI (P = 0.035). This interaction was not due to confounding by baseline variables, different intervention responses for weight loss and physical fitness, or hypoglycemic events. In those with a CVD history, statin use was high and similar by group. In those without a CVD history, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were higher (P = 0.003) and statin use was lower (P ≤ 0.001) in the ILI group.

CONCLUSIONS

Intervention response heterogeneity was significant for nonfatal MI. Response heterogeneity may need consideration in a CVD-outcome trial design.

THE HEALTHY AGING INDEX AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH MORTALITY IN OLDER MEXICAN AND EUROPEAN AMERICANS

Mexican Americans (MA) have higher morbidity compared to European Americans (EA); however, the mortality rate remains lower (Hispanic Paradox). The Healthy Aging Index (HAI) captures clinical and subclinical morbidity in older adults and is useful in examining ethnic differences in mortality for a given disease burden. We assessed the association between baseline HAI and all-cause mortality over 12 years of follow-up among older MAs (n=394) and EAs (n=355) in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA) and examined differences between ethnic groups. HAI incorporates non-invasive measures (systolic blood pressure, forced vital capacity, creatinine, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), Mini-Mental State Exam). Missing baseline data for HAI components and covariates were imputed using multiple imputations. Proteinuria was used instead of creatinine due to non-availability. Scores of 0, 1, 2 were given from lowest to highest tertile HAI categories; diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, and renal failure were included in the highest tertiles. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the association between HAI and mortality, adjusting for confounders. After adjusting for age, gender, education, income, BMI, smoking and ethnicity, HAI was independently associated with mortality (HR 1.25 (1.16-1.35), p-value <0.0001). We found no interaction effect between HAI and ethnicity on mortality ((p-value for interaction = 0.78). In the SALSA sample, HAI is a predictor of mortality after adjusting for confounders in both MAs and EAs. The absence of a significant HAI*ethnicity interaction effect further demonstrated that HAI works equally well as a predictor of mortality in both MAs and EAs.

Physical Function Following a Long-Term Lifestyle Intervention Among Middle Aged and Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: The Look AHEAD Study

Background

Lifestyle interventions have been shown to improve physical function over the short term; however, whether these benefits are sustainable is unknown. The long-term effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on physical function were assessed using a randomized post-test design in the Look AHEAD trial.

Methods

Overweight and obese (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) middle-aged and older adults (aged 45-76 years at enrollment) with type 2 diabetes enrolled in Look AHEAD, a trial evaluating an ILI designed to achieve weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity compared to diabetes support and education (DSE), underwent standardized assessments of performance-based physical function including a 4- and 400-m walk, lower extremity physical performance (expanded Short Physical Performance Battery, SPPBexp), and grip strength approximately 11 years postrandomization and 1.5 years after the intervention was stopped (n = 3,783).

Results

Individuals randomized to ILI had lower odds of slow gait speed (<0.8 m/s) compared to those randomized to DSE (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 0.84 [0.71 to 0.99]). Individuals randomized to ILI also had faster gait speed over 4- and 400-m (adjusted mean difference [95% CI]: 0.019 [0.007 to 0.031] m/s, p = .002, and 0.023 [0.012 to 0.034] m/sec, p < .0001, respectively) and higher SPPBexp scores (0.037 [0.011 to 0.063], p = .005) compared to those randomized to DSE. The intervention effect was slightly larger for SPPBexp scores among older versus younger participants (0.081 [0.038 to 0.124] vs 0.013 [-0.021 to 0.047], p = .01).

Conclusions

An intensive lifestyle intervention has modest but significant long-term benefits on physical function in overweight and obese middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier

NCT00017953.

Weight Loss Experiences of African American, Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic White Men and Women with Type 2 Diabetes: The Look AHEAD Trial

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to characterize weight loss, treatment engagement, and weight control strategies utilized by African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white participants in the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) Intensive Lifestyle Intervention by racial/ethnic and sex subgroups.

METHODS

Weight losses at 1, 4, and 8 years among 2,361 adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes randomized to intervention (31% minority; 42% men) are reported by subgroup. Multivariable models within subgroups examine relative contributions of treatment engagement variables and self-reported weight control behaviors.

RESULTS

All subgroups averaged weight losses ≥ 5% in year 1 but experienced regain; losses ≥ 5% were sustained at year 8 by non-Hispanic white participants and minority women (but not men). Session attendance was high (≥ 86%) in year 1 and exceeded protocol-specified minimum levels into year 8. Individual session attendance had stronger associations with weight loss among Hispanic and African American participants than non-Hispanic white participants at 4 years (P = 0.04) and 8 years (P = 0.001). Daily self-weighing uptake was considerable in all subgroups and was a prominent factor associated with year 1 weight loss among African American men and women. Greater meal replacement use was strongly associated with poorer 1-year weight losses among African American women.

CONCLUSIONS

Experiences of minority men and women with diabetes in lifestyle interventions fill important gaps in the literature that can inform treatment delivery.

Long-term Association of Depression Symptoms and Antidepressant Medication Use With Incident Cardiovascular Events in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Clinical Trial of Weight Loss in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether depression symptoms or antidepressant medication (ADM) use predicts the probability of cardiovascular events in overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Preplanned analyses of depression and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) were performed in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) weight loss trial after a median follow-up of 9.6 years. Depression symptoms, assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), were analyzed both as a continuous and dichotomized variable (BDI score <10 or ≥10). ADM use was coded from participants' prescription medications. Four composite CVD outcomes were defined in the study protocol. Sex-stratified Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for a range of baseline covariates.

RESULTS

Depression symptoms were only significantly associated with a composite secondary outcome comprising CVD death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, hospitalized angina, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, coronary artery bypass graft, and carotid endarterectomy. Significant sex interactions were observed for BDI score and BDI score ≥10. BDI score was significantly associated with higher probability of this composite outcome in men but was not associated with the outcome in women. BDI score ≥10 was positively associated with this composite outcome in men but was negatively associated in women. Exploratory analysis identified a significant BDI ≥10 × ADM use interaction for this composite outcome that differed in men versus women. Men with both BDI score ≥10 and ADM use compared with those with neither had 60% higher probability of the outcome, whereas women with both compared with those with neither had 50% lower probability.

CONCLUSIONS

Sex differences in the association of depression symptoms and ADM use with incident CVD warrant further investigation.

Distinguishing Comorbidity, Disability, and Frailty

Purpose of review

Over half of the older adults in U.S. have multimorbidity, defined broadly as the presence of 2 or more chronic diseases in an individual. Multimorbidity has significant overlap with disability and frailty. In this review, we broadly review the concepts of multimorbidity, disability, and frailty, as well as their interrelationships, and ability to predict future adverse health outcomes in older adults.

Recent findings

Depending on the study, the prevalence of individuals with all three of multimorbidity, disability, and frailty ranges from 2-20%. Multimorbidity and patterns of multimorbidity are predictive of functional limitations, disability, health care usage, and mortality. The degree to which multimorbidity predicts these outcomes depends on many factors but partly upon the population examined and the presence of frailty and disability.

Summary

Multimorbidity is an emerging public health concern that is observed with and predictive of disability and frailty.

Provider-Related Linkages Between Primary Care Clinics and Community-Based Senior Centers Associated With Diabetes-Related Outcomes

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggests that linkages between primary care practices and community-based resources can improve health in lower income and minority patients, but examples of these are rare. We conducted a prospective, mixed-methods observational study to identify indicators of primary care-community linkage associated with the frequency of visits to community-based senior centers and improvements in diabetes-related outcomes among 149 new senior center members (72% Hispanic). We used semistructured interviews at baseline and 9-month follow-up, obtaining visit frequency from member software and clinical assessments including hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from colocated primary care clinics. Members' discussion of their activities with their primary care providers (PCPs) was associated with increased visits to the senior centers, as well as diabetes-related improvements. Direct feedback from the senior centers to their PCPs was desired by the majority of members and may help to reinforce use of community resources for self-management support.

Effect of a Long-Term Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on Cognitive Function: Action for Health in Diabetes Study

OBJECTIVES

To assess whether randomization to 10 years of lifestyle intervention to induce and maintain weight loss improves cognitive function.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING

Data obtained as part of the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) trial (NCT00017953) and Look AHEAD Continuation study (U01 DK057136-15).

PARTICIPANTS

Overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus aged 45 to 76 (N = 3,751).

INTERVENTION

Intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) for weight loss through reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity compared with a control condition of diabetes support and education (DSE).

MEASUREMENTS

Certified examiners who were masked to intervention assignment administered a standard battery of cognitive function tests (Modified Mini-Mental State Examination, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, Digit Symbol Coding, Trail-Making Test, Modified Stroop Color-Word Test) to participants 10 to 13 years after enrollment.

RESULTS

Assignment to lifestyle intervention was not associated with significantly different overall (P = .10) or domain-specific (all P > .10) cognitive function than assignment to diabetes support and education. Results were fairly consistent across prespecified groups, but there was some evidence of trends for differential intervention effects showing modest harm in ILI in participants with greater body mass index and in individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease. Cognitive function was not associated with changes in weight or fitness (all P > .05).

CONCLUSION

A long-term behavioral weight loss intervention for overweight and obese adults with diabetes mellitus was not associated with cognitive benefit. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00017953.

Effect of a long-term intensive lifestyle intervention on prevalence of cognitive impairment

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether an average of 10 years of lifestyle intervention designed to reduce weight and increase physical activity lowers the prevalence of cognitive impairment among adults at increased risk due to type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight.

METHODS

Central adjudication of mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia was based on standardized cognitive test battery scores administered to 3,802 individuals who had been randomly assigned, with equal probability, to either the lifestyle intervention or the diabetes support and education control. When scores fell below a prespecified threshold, functional information was obtained through proxy interview.

RESULTS

Compared with control, the intensive lifestyle intervention induced and maintained marked differences in weight loss and self-reported physical activity throughout follow-up. At an average (range) of 11.4 (9.5-13.5) years after enrollment, when participants' mean age was 69.6 (54.9-87.2) years, the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment and probable dementia was 6.4% and 1.8%, respectively, in the intervention group, compared with 6.6% and 1.8%, respectively, in the control group (p = 0.93). The lack of an intervention effect on the prevalence of cognitive impairment was consistent among individuals grouped by cardiovascular disease history, diabetes duration, sex, and APOE ε4 allele status (all p ≥ 0.50). However, there was evidence (p = 0.03) that the intervention effect ranged from benefit to harm across participants ordered from lowest to highest baseline BMI.

CONCLUSIONS

Ten years of behavioral weight loss intervention did not result in an overall difference in the prevalence of cognitive impairment among overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes.

CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER

NCT00017953 (Action for Health in Diabetes).

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

This study provides Class II evidence that for overweight adults with type 2 diabetes, a lifestyle intervention designed to reduce weight and increase physical activity does not lower the risk of cognitive impairment.

Association of Weight Loss Maintenance and Weight Regain on 4-Year Changes in CVD Risk Factors: the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE

Short-term weight loss improves cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. We sought to determine the longer-term effects of maintaining weight loss or, conversely, regaining weight.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We used data from Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD), a randomized trial of intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) compared to a control condition in overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes. ILI participants were grouped according to weight change patterns, as follows: 1) no weight loss (±3% at years 1 and 4); 2) moderate weight loss (3-8% at years 1 and 4); 3) large weight loss (8-20% at years 1 and 4); 4) moderate loss/full regain (3-8% at year 1/±3% at year 4); 5) large loss/full regain (8-20% at year 1/± 3% year 4); and 6) large loss/partial regain (8-20% at year 1/3-8% at year 4) and changes in CVD risk factors were compared.

RESULTS

Adjusting for baseline differences and medication use, larger weight losses produced greater improvements in HbA1c, systolic blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides at years 1 and 4 (all P ≤ 0.02). Despite maintenance of weight loss, HbA1c levels worsened between years 1 and 4, and remained below baseline only in those with large weight losses. We found no negative associations of losing and regaining weight relative to not having lost weight. Moreover, those who had large initial weight loss but full regain of weight had greater improvements in HbA1c levels at year 4 than those with smaller or no initial weight loss.

CONCLUSIONS

Larger initial weight loss should be encouraged in individuals with type 2 diabetes, despite the possibility of regain.

The relationship of social support with treatment adherence and weight loss in Latinos with type 2 diabetes

OBJECTIVE

Little is known about the effects of social support on weight loss in Latinos. This study determined whether sex moderated and treatment adherence mediated the association between social support and weight loss.

METHODS

Data from 278 Latino males and females with type 2 diabetes in the Intensive Lifestyle Intervention of the Look AHEAD trial were analyzed. Multivariable modeling tested for moderation and parallel multiple mediator modeling simultaneously tested the mediating effects of adherence to physical activity, diet, and session attendance on the relationship between baseline social support and percent weight loss at 1 year.

RESULTS

Social support for physical activity (having family and friends join in physical activity) was related to weight loss. Adherence to physical activity was related to both social support for physical activity and weight loss. Sex did not moderate these relationships. Adherence to physical activity completely mediated the relationship between social support for physical activity and weight loss.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing companionship for physical activity may be an effective intervention strategy to promote behaviors important for weight loss among Latinos.

Abstract A23: Cancer outcomes in the diabetes prevention program outcomes study

Numerous observational studies have reported decreased cancer incidence and cancer-related mortality in patients with diabetes receiving standard doses of metformin. A recent meta-analysis of these studies suggested a 31% reduction in overall cancer incidence, summary relative risk (0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.52-0.90), in subjects taking metformin as compared with other antidiabetic drugs. Separate meta-analyses of studies that adjusted for BMI or time-related bias suggested an attenuation of this signal, but still showed a significant reduction in cancer incidence. However, studies published to date are limited by the observational nature of the data and the randomized controlled trials that have been used to examine metformin's potential as an anti-cancer agent in patients with diabetes have had insufficient follow-up for cancer endpoints. These data also do not address the cancer risk in non-diabetic populations, in which the cancer preventive potential of metformin is unknown.

The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was a national multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which enrolled 3234 participants between 1996 and 1999, designed to investigate whether intensive lifestyle modification or treatment with metformin (850mg twice a day) delayed or prevented the onset of type 2 diabetes in a high risk population. The DPP and its follow up study, the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), provide a unique opportunity to examine the role of metformin and lifestyle intervention in reducing cancer incidence in an overweight adult population with impaired glucose regulation, before the onset of diabetes. The National Cancer Institute Division of Cancer Prevention, in collaboration with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the DPPOS investigators, proposed a study to examine the hypothesis that metformin and/or lifestyle intervention can modify total cancer incidence and/or obesity-related cancer incidence (breast, colorectal, endometrium, pancreas, lower esophagus, gall-bladder, and kidney) in DPP/DPPOS participants.

The DPPOS protocol and consent were modified to allow collection of data to support the inclusion of cancer incidence as an endpoint of interest in the study. Participants complete a cancer risk questionnaire that includes family history of cancer, cancer screening activities, and use of aspirin and NSAIDs including dose and frequency. The participants who previously reported a cancer diagnosis, through the SAE reporting process and/or an annual questionnaire, or during a subsequent follow-up visit, are asked to provide physician information to obtain medical records for case adjudication. This protocol will allow for the examination of the effect of metformin and lifestyle intervention on cancer incidence in an initially pre-diabetic population potentially through a median of 20 years of follow-up.

Data from this study will compare incidence of total and obesity-related cancers between the original treatment groups; assess cancer (total and obesity-related) incidence by metformin exposure across all treatment groups, using a “met-years” variable, and explore subgroups to investigate effect modification by sex, age group, race/ethnicity, diabetes status, or weight loss at 1 year or mean weight loss since study baseline.

Citation Format: Brandy M. Heckman-Stoddard, Jill P. Crandall, Sharon L. Edelstein, Richard F. Hamman, Philip C. Prorok, Anne Ryan, Dana Dabelea, Helen P. Hazuda, Edward Horton, Mary A. Hoskin, Susan Jeffries, William C. Knowler, Kieren J. Mather, Susana M. Shapiro, Farzana L. Walcott, Leslie G. Ford. Cancer outcomes in the diabetes prevention program outcomes study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2014 Sep 27-Oct 1; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2015;8(10 Suppl): Abstract nr A23.

Frailty prevalence and neighborhood residence in older Mexican Americans: the San Antonio longitudinal study of aging

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association between neighborhood residence and frailty prevalence in older Mexican Americans (MAs).

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, observational study.

SETTING

Socioeconomically and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Antonio, Texas.

PARTICIPANTS

Community-dwelling older MA adults (aged ≥ 65) who completed the baseline examination of the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA) (1992-1996) (N = 394).

MEASUREMENTS

Subjects were randomly sampled from three types of neighborhoods that varied in ethnic composition and economic environment: barrio (low-income, exclusively MA), transitional (middle-income, equal proportion MAs and European Americans (EAs)) and suburban (upper-income, predominantly EA). Frailty was classified using the Fried criteria. Frailty odds were estimated according to neighborhood using logistic regression, with the suburban neighborhood as the reference category. Covariates included age, sex, diseases, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function.

RESULTS

Frailty prevalence was 15.6% in the barrio, 9.4% in the transitional neighborhood, and 3.5% in the suburbs (P = .01). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and disease covariates, odds of frailty were 4.15 times as high for MAs residing in the barrio as for those residing in the suburbs (P = .03). After adjustment for depression and cognition, this association was no longer significant. Diabetes mellitus and depression accounted for the higher odds of frailty in the barrio. Although odds of frailty in the transitional neighborhood were 1.95 times as high as those in the suburbs, the difference was not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

The ethnic composition and economic environment of the neighborhoods in which MA older adults reside are strongly associated with their odds of being frail.

Diet soda intake is associated with long-term increases in waist circumference in a biethnic cohort of older adults: the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging

OBJECTIVES

To examine the relationship between diet soda (DS) intake (DSI) and long-term waist circumference (WC) change (ΔWC) in the biethnic San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA).

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTING

San Antonio, Texas, neighborhoods.

PARTICIPANTS

SALSA examined 749 Mexican-American and European-American individuals aged 65 and older at baseline (baseline, 1992-96); 474 (79.1%) survivors completed follow-up 1 (FU1, 2000-01), 413 (73.4%) completed FU2 (2001-03), and 375 (71.0%) completed FU3 (2003-04). Participants completed a mean of 2.64 follow-up intervals, for 9.4 total follow-up years.

MEASUREMENTS

DSI, WC, height, and weight were measured at outset and at the conclusion of each interval: baseline, FU1, FU2, and FU3.

RESULTS

Adjusted for initial WC, demographic characteristics, physical activity, diabetes mellitus, and smoking, mean interval ΔWC of DS users (2.11 cm, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.45-2.76 cm) was almost triple that of nonusers (0.77 cm, 95% CI = 0.29-1.23 cm) (P < .001). Adjusted interval ΔWCs were 0.77 cm (95% CI = 0.29-1.23 cm) for nonusers, 1.76 cm (95% CI = 0.96-2.57 cm) for occasional users, and 3.04 cm (95% CI = 1.82-4.26 cm) for daily users (P = .002 for trend). This translates to ΔWCs of 0.80 inches for nonusers, 1.83 inches for occasional users, and 3.16 for daily users over the total SALSA follow-up. In subanalyses stratified for selected covariates, ΔWC point estimates were consistently higher in DS users.

CONCLUSION

In a striking dose-response relationship, increasing DSI was associated with escalating abdominal obesity, a potential pathway for cardiometabolic risk in this aging population.

Impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention on use and cost of medical services among overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes: the action for health in diabetes

OBJECTIVE

To assess the relative impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) on use and costs of health care within the Look AHEAD trial.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A total of 5,121 overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to an ILI that promoted weight loss or to a comparison condition of diabetes support and education (DSE). Use and costs of health-care services were recorded across an average of 10 years.

RESULTS

ILI led to reductions in annual hospitalizations (11%, P = 0.004), hospital days (15%, P = 0.01), and number of medications (6%, P < 0.001), resulting in cost savings for hospitalization (10%, P = 0.04) and medication (7%, P < 0.001). ILI produced a mean relative per-person 10-year cost savings of $5,280 (95% CI 3,385-7,175); however, these were not evident among individuals with a history of cardiovascular disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with DSE over 10 years, ILI participants had fewer hospitalizations, fewer medications, and lower health-care costs.

Predicting the development of the metabolically healthy obese phenotype

Objective

The metabolically healthy (MHO) and unhealthy obese (MUHO) differ in terms of cardiovascular risk. However, little is known about predicting the development of these phenotypes and the future stability of the MHO phenotype. Therefore, we examined these two issues in the San Antonio Heart Study.

Design

Longitudinal, population-based study of cardiometabolic risk factors among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites in San Antonio.

Subjects

The study sample included 2,368 participants with neither MUHO nor diabetes at baseline. Median follow-up was 7.8 years. MHO was defined as obesity with ≤1 metabolic abnormality; MUHO, as obesity with ≥2 abnormalities.

Results

At baseline, 1,595 and 498 individuals were non-obese with ≤1 and ≥2 metabolic abnormalities, respectively; 275 were MHO. Among non-obese individuals, independent predictors of incident MHO (OR for 1-SD change [95% CI]) included body mass index (8.12 [5.66 – 11.7]), triglycerides (0.52 [0.39 – 0.68]), and HDL-C (1.41 [1.11 – 1.81]), whereas independent predictors of incident MUHO included BMI (5.97 [4.58 – 7.77]) and triglycerides (1.26 [1.05 – 1.51]). Among participants with ≤1 metabolic abnormality, obesity was associated with greater odds of developing multiple metabolic abnormalities (OR 2.26 [1.74 – 2.95]).

Conclusions

Triglycerides and HDL-C may be useful for predicting progression to MHO. MHO may not be a stable condition, because it confers an increased risk of developing multiple metabolic abnormalities.

Impact of intensive lifestyle intervention on depression and health-related quality of life in type 2 diabetes: the Look AHEAD Trial

OBJECTIVE

We examined the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI), compared with a diabetes support and education (DSE) control intervention, on long-term changes in depression symptoms, antidepressant medication (ADM) use, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in overweight/obese individuals with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Look AHEAD was a multisite randomized controlled trial of 5,145 overweight/obese participants assigned to ILI (designed to produce weight loss) or DSE and followed for a median of 9.6 years. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered at baseline, annually at years 1-4, and again at year 8. Mean BDI scores and incidence of BDI scores ≥10, indicative of likely mild or greater depression, were examined. Annually through year 10, participants reported their ADM use and completed the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire, which yields physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores.

RESULTS

ILI significantly reduced the incidence of mild or greater depression symptoms (BDI scores ≥10) compared with DSE (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.85; 95% CI 0.75-0.97; P = 0.0145). Although SF-36 PCS scores worsened over time in both groups, ILI participants reported better physical function than DSE throughout the first 8 years (all P values <0.01). There were no significant differences between treatment arms in the proportion of participants who used ADMs or in SF-36 MCS scores.

CONCLUSIONS

ILI for overweight/obese patients with type 2 diabetes may reduce the risk of developing clinically significant symptoms of depression and preserve physical HRQoL. These findings should be considered when evaluating the potential benefits of ILIs.

Cardiovascular effects of intensive lifestyle intervention in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND

Weight loss is recommended for overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes on the basis of short-term studies, but long-term effects on cardiovascular disease remain unknown. We examined whether an intensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss would decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among such patients.

METHODS

In 16 study centers in the United States, we randomly assigned 5145 overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes to participate in an intensive lifestyle intervention that promoted weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity (intervention group) or to receive diabetes support and education (control group). The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for angina during a maximum follow-up of 13.5 years.

RESULTS

The trial was stopped early on the basis of a futility analysis when the median follow-up was 9.6 years. Weight loss was greater in the intervention group than in the control group throughout the study (8.6% vs. 0.7% at 1 year; 6.0% vs. 3.5% at study end). The intensive lifestyle intervention also produced greater reductions in glycated hemoglobin and greater initial improvements in fitness and all cardiovascular risk factors, except for low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The primary outcome occurred in 403 patients in the intervention group and in 418 in the control group (1.83 and 1.92 events per 100 person-years, respectively; hazard ratio in the intervention group, 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.09; P=0.51).

CONCLUSIONS

An intensive lifestyle intervention focusing on weight loss did not reduce the rate of cardiovascular events in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others; Look AHEAD ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00017953.).

Cardiovascular effects of intensive lifestyle intervention in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND

Weight loss is recommended for overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes on the basis of short-term studies, but long-term effects on cardiovascular disease remain unknown. We examined whether an intensive lifestyle intervention for weight loss would decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among such patients.

METHODS

In 16 study centers in the United States, we randomly assigned 5145 overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes to participate in an intensive lifestyle intervention that promoted weight loss through decreased caloric intake and increased physical activity (intervention group) or to receive diabetes support and education (control group). The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for angina during a maximum follow-up of 13.5 years.

RESULTS

The trial was stopped early on the basis of a futility analysis when the median follow-up was 9.6 years. Weight loss was greater in the intervention group than in the control group throughout the study (8.6% vs. 0.7% at 1 year; 6.0% vs. 3.5% at study end). The intensive lifestyle intervention also produced greater reductions in glycated hemoglobin and greater initial improvements in fitness and all cardiovascular risk factors, except for low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The primary outcome occurred in 403 patients in the intervention group and in 418 in the control group (1.83 and 1.92 events per 100 person-years, respectively; hazard ratio in the intervention group, 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 1.09; P=0.51).

CONCLUSIONS

An intensive lifestyle intervention focusing on weight loss did not reduce the rate of cardiovascular events in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others; Look AHEAD ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00017953.).

Intensive weight loss intervention in older individuals: results from the Action for Health in Diabetes Type 2 diabetes mellitus trial

OBJECTIVES

To compare the effects of 4 years of intensive lifestyle intervention on weight, fitness, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in older and younger individuals.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING

Sixteen U.S. clinical sites.

PARTICIPANTS

Individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus: 1,053 aged 65 to 76 and 4,092 aged 45 to 64.

INTERVENTIONS

An intensive behavioral intervention designed to promote and maintain weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity was compared with diabetes mellitus support and education.

MEASUREMENTS

Standardized assessments of weight, fitness (based on graded exercise testing), and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

RESULTS

Over 4 years, older individuals had greater intervention-related mean weight losses (6.2%) than younger participants (5.1%; interaction P = .006) and comparable relative mean increases in fitness (0.56 vs 0.53 metabolic equivalents; interaction P = .72). These benefits were seen consistently across subgroups of older adults formed according to many demographic and health factors. Of a panel of age-related health conditions, only self-reported worsening vision was associated with poorer intervention-related weight loss in older individuals. The intensive lifestyle intervention produced mean increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (2.03 mg/dL; P < .001) and decreases in glycated hemoglobin (0.21%; P < .001) and waist circumference (3.52 cm; P < .001) over 4 years that were at least as large in older as in younger individuals.

CONCLUSION

Intensive lifestyle intervention targeting weight loss and increased physical activity is effective in overweight and obese older individuals to produce sustained weight loss and improvements in fitness and cardiovascular risk factors.

Health literacy associations between Hispanic elderly patients and their caregivers

Knowing health literacy levels of older patients and their caregivers is important because caregivers assist patients in the administration of medications, manage daily health care tasks, and help make health services utilization decisions. The authors examined the association of health literacy levels between older Hispanic patients and their caregivers among 174 patient-caregiver dyads enrolled from 3 community clinics and 28 senior centers in San Antonio, Texas. Health literacy was measured using English and Spanish versions of the Short-Test of Functional Health Literacy Assessment and categorized as "low" or "adequate." The largest dyad category (41%) consisted of a caregiver with adequate health literacy and patient with low health literacy. Among the dyads with the same health literacy levels, 28% had adequate health literacy and 24% had low health literacy. It is notable that 7% of dyads consisted of a caregiver with low health literacy and a patient with adequate health literacy. Low health literacy is a concern not only for older Hispanic patients but also for their caregivers. To provide optimal care, clinicians must ensure that information is given to both patients and their caregivers in clear effective ways as it may significantly affect patient health outcomes.

Intensity and duration of obesity-related counseling: association with 5-Year BMI trends among obese primary care patients

We examined 5-year trends in BMI among obese primary care patients to determine whether obesity-related education such as nutrition counseling or a weight management program was associated with declines in BMI. Veterans with BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) and ≥1 primary care visits in fiscal year 2002 were identified from the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) national databases. Outpatient visits from fiscal year 2002-2006 for nutrition counseling, exercise, or weight management were grouped into five categories varying in intensity and duration: (i) intense-and-sustained, (ii) intense-only, (iii) irregular, (iv) limited, and (v) no counseling. Generalized estimating equation assessed associations between obesity-related counseling and BMI trend (annual rate of BMI change fiscal year 2002-2006) among cohort members with complete race/ethnic data (N = 179,881). Multinomial logistic regression compared intensity and duration of counseling among patients whose net BMI increased or decreased by ≥10% vs. remained stable. Compared with patients receiving "intense-and-sustained" counseling, the BMI trend of those receiving "intense-only" or "irregular" counseling was not significantly different, but patients receiving "no counseling" or "limited counseling" had significantly higher rates of decreasing BMI (-0.12 and -0.08 BMI per year; P < 0.01, respectively). This was especially true for veterans in their 50-60s, compared with the oldest veterans who were most likely to lose weight. In contrast, younger veterans (18-35 years) were least likely to lose weight; their BMI tended to increase regardless of counseling intensity and duration. Enhanced efforts are needed to detect and combat increasing weight trajectories among veterans who are already obese, especially among those aged 18-35 who are at greatest risk.

Insulin resistance and excess risk of diabetes in Mexican-Americans: the San Antonio Heart Study

CONTEXT

Mexican-Americans have more diabetes than non-Hispanic whites, but the extent to which insulin resistance and insulin secretion explain the ethnic difference is unknown.

OBJECTIVE

We analyzed selected indices of insulin resistance and secretion for both the ethnic difference and predictive discrimination.

DESIGN AND SETTING

The San Antonio Heart Study is a longitudinal population-based study with a follow-up period of 7.5 yr.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1540 nondiabetic individuals aged 25-64 yr were enrolled from January 1984 to December 1988.

INTERVENTIONS

Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) of insulin resistance and secretion were estimated by available formulas (HOMA-IR and HOMA β-cell) and computer program (HOMA2S and HOMA2B). Matsuda index and insulinogenic index from 0 to 30 and 0 to 120 min (ΔI0-30/ΔG0-30 and ΔI0-120/ΔG0-120) were also calculated.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Incident diabetes was defined by the 2003 American Diabetes Association criteria.

RESULTS

Incident diabetes was in excess in Mexican-Americans [odds ratio 2.26 (95% confidence interval, 1.53-3.34)]. Matsuda index explained a larger proportion of the ethnic difference than did HOMA-IR (49.2 vs. 31.0%; P<0.001). The ethnic difference was not explained by measures of insulin secretion. Matsuda index and ΔI0-30/ΔG0-30 had a better predictive discrimination than their HOMA equivalents and ΔI0-120/ΔG0-120. HOMA estimates by the computer program offered no advantage over simple formulas for HOMA.

CONCLUSIONS

Insulin resistance accounts for a large and significant proportion of the excess risk of diabetes in Mexican-Americans. Matsuda index is better than HOMA-IR for both explaining the ethnic difference and predicting diabetes.

Patients' diverse beliefs about what happens at the time of death

BACKGROUND

Beliefs about what happens at the time of death surely affect a patient's whole dying experience and could help guide end-of-life care. Yet virtually no research describes those beliefs. This exploratory study begins the descriptive process.

METHODS

Assuming culture is key, we interviewed 26 Mexican-American (MA), 18 Euro-American (EA), and 14 African-American (AA) inpatients about their beliefs concerning what happens at the time of death.

RESULTS

One belief, that death separates the dead from the living, was widespread. Majorities of all 3 ethnic group samples and of 5 of the 6 gender subsamples expressed this belief, saying the dead "go" or "leave" from this life. Other beliefs differed by ethnic group or gender. For example, more EAs (50%) than others said death is a momentary event, and more MAs (35%) than others said death involves "being taken" by an external force (always God or Jesus). Furthermore, considerably more EA women (45%) than others said some senses persist after death. In contrast, the physiologic signs that participants cited as defining the exact time of death varied from individual to individual with no ethnic or gender pattern, and no one sign predominated.

CONCLUSIONS

A few beliefs about what happens at the time of death may characterize Americans in general; many other beliefs may characterize only certain ethnic groups, genders, or individuals. To identify such beliefs and to use them to guide end-of-life care, hospitalists and other health professionals may have to elicit them directly from patients or survivors.

VHA Corporate Data Warehouse height and weight data: opportunities and challenges for health services research

Within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), anthropometric measurements entered into the electronic medical record are stored in local information systems, the national Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), and in some regional data warehouses. This article describes efforts to examine the quality of weight and height data within the CDW and to compare CDW data with data from warehouses maintained by several of VHA's regional groupings of healthcare facilities (Veterans Integrated Service Networks [VISNs]). We found significantly fewer recorded heights than weights in both the CDW and VISN data sources. In spite of occasional anomalies, the concordance in the number and value of records in the CDW and the VISN warehouses was generally 97% to 99% or greater. Implausible variation in same-day and same-year heights and weights was noted, suggesting measurement or data-entry errors. Our work suggests that the CDW, over time and through validation, has become a generally reliable source of anthropometric data. Researchers should assess the reliability of data contained within any source and apply strategies to minimize the impact of data errors appropriate to their study population.

Better glycemic control is associated with maintenance of lower-extremity function over time in Mexican American and European American older adults with diabetes

OBJECTIVE

Diabetes is a major cause of functional decline among older adults, but the role of glycemic control remains unclear. This article assesses whether better glycemic control is associated with better maintenance of lower-extremity function over time in older adults with diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Participants (n = 119) in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, ages 71-85, who met American Diabetes Association diabetes criteria were followed over a 36-month period. Seven measures of A1C (HbA(1c)) were obtained at 6-month intervals; three measures of lower-extremity function were obtained at 18-month intervals using the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). A two-step analytic approach was used, first, to identify distinct glycemic control classes using latent growth mixture modeling and, second, to examine trajectories of lower-extremity function based on these classes using path analysis.

RESULTS

Two glycemic control classes were identified: a poorer control class with higher means (all >7%) and higher within-subject variability in HbA(1c) and a better control class with lower means (all <7%) and lower within-subject variability. The short-term and long-term maintenance of lower-extremity function, assessed by the association between the first and second SPPB measures and the first and third SPPB measures, were both greater in the better control class than in the poorer control class.

CONCLUSIONS

Among older adults with diabetes, better glycemic control may improve both short-term and long-term maintenance of lower-extremity function.

Obesity diagnosis and care practices in the Veterans Health Administration

BACKGROUND

In response to dramatic increases in obesity prevalence, clinical guidelines urge health care providers to prevent and treat obesity more aggressively.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the proportion of obese primary care patients receiving obesity care over a 5-year period and identify factors predicting receipt of care.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study utilizing VHA administrative data from 6 of 21 VA administrative regions.

PATIENTS

Veterans seen in primary care in FY2002 with a body mass index (BMI) > or =30 kg/m(2) based on heights and weights recorded in the electronic medical record (EMR), survival through FY2006, and active care (1 or more visits in at least 3 follow-up years FY2003-2006).

MAIN MEASURES

Receipt of outpatient visits for individual or group education or instruction in nutrition, exercise, or weight management; receipt of prescriptions for any FDA-approved medications for weight reduction; and receipt of bariatric surgery.

KEY RESULTS

Of 933,084 (88.6%) of 1,053,228 primary care patients who had recorded heights and weights allowing calculation of BMI, 330,802 (35.5%) met criteria for obesity. Among obese patients who survived and received active care (N = 264,667), 53.5% had a recorded obesity diagnosis, 34.1% received at least one outpatient visit for obesity-related education or counseling, 0.4% received weight-loss medications, and 0.2% had bariatric surgery between FY2002-FY2006. In multivariable analysis, patients older than 65 years (OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.60-0.64) were less likely to receive obesity-related education, whereas those prescribed 5-7 or 8 or more medication classes (OR = 1.41; 1.38-1.45; OR = 1.94; 1.88-2.00, respectively) or diagnosed with obesity (OR = 4.0; 3.92-4.08) or diabetes (OR = 2.23; 2.18-2.27) were more likely to receive obesity-related education.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial numbers of VHA primary care patients did not have sufficient height or weight data recorded to calculate BMI or have recorded obesity diagnoses when warranted. Receipt of obesity education varied by sociodemographic and clinical factors; providers may need to be cognizant of these when engaging patients in treatment.

Cultural beliefs about a patient's right time to die: an exploratory study

BACKGROUND

Generalist physicians must often counsel patients or their families about the right time to die, but feel ill-prepared to do so. Patient beliefs may help guide the discussions.

OBJECTIVE

Because little prior research addresses such beliefs, we investigated them in this exploratory, hypothesis-generating study.

DESIGN AND SUBJECTS

Anticipating culture as a key influence, we interviewed 26 Mexican Americans (MAs), 18 Euro-Americans (EAs), and 14 African Americans (AAs) and content-analyzed their responses.

MAIN RESULTS

Nearly all subjects regardless of ethnic group or gender said God determines (at least partially) a patient's right time to die, and serious disease signals it. Yet subjects differed by ethnic group over other signals for that time. Patient suffering and dependence on "artificial" life support signaled it for the MAs; patient acceptance of death signaled it for the EAs; and patient suffering and family presence at or before the death signaled it for the AAs. Subjects also differed by gender over other beliefs. In all ethnic groups more men than women said the time of death is unpredictable; but more women than men said the time of death is preset, and family suffering signals it. Furthermore, most MA women--but few others--explicitly declared that family have an important say in determining a patient's right time to die. No confounding occurred by religion.

CONCLUSIONS

Americans may share some beliefs about the right time to die but differ by ethnic group or gender over other beliefs about that time. Quality end-of-life care requires accommodating such differences whenever reasonable.

Helplessness predicts the development of hypertension in older Mexican and European Americans

OBJECTIVE

The mechanisms by which depression is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease remain unclear. It is possible that depressive symptoms could increase the risk of hypertension, which in turn could predispose to cardiovascular disease. The goal of this study was to explore whether individual depressive symptoms might predict the incidence of hypertension in a cohort of 240 initially normotensive Mexican-American and European-American elders.

METHODS

Subjects were 65-78 years old on entering the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, an epidemiologic survey, at which time they completed the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale in English or Spanish. Their blood pressure was reassessed a mean of 7.0 years later. Responses to six key scale items (depressed mood, decreased interest, worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness, and fatigue) were evaluated for the ability to predict incident hypertension.

RESULTS

In univariate analyses, only helplessness significantly predicted incident hypertension (chi-square 13.5, df=1, P=.0003). In a Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for sex, education, number of comorbid diseases, current drinking, social well-being, and marital status, helplessness remained a very strong predictor [hazard ratio (HR) 4.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.90-13.12, P=.0011]. Total depression score also predicted incident hypertension, but less strongly (HR 1.08, CI 1.00-1.17, P=.0339).

CONCLUSION

Helplessness may predict the development of hypertension in the elderly. Further research into this relationship might lead to interventions to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Fueling the obesity epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long-term weight gain

We have examined the relationship between artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption and long-term weight gain in the San Antonio Heart Study. From 1979 to 1988, height, weight, and ASB consumption were measured among 5,158 adult residents of San Antonio, Texas. Seven to eight years later, 3,682 participants (74% of survivors) were re-examined. Outcome measures were incidence of overweight/obesity (OW/OB(inc)) and obesity (OB(inc)) (BMI > or = 25 and > or = 30 kg/m(2), respectively), and BMI change by follow-up (DeltaBMI, kg/m(2)). A significant positive dose-response relationship emerged between baseline ASB consumption and all outcome measures, adjusted for baseline BMI and demographic/behavioral characteristics. Consuming >21 ASBs/week (vs. none) was associated with almost-doubled risk of OW/OB (odds ratio (OR) = 1.93, P = 0.007) among 1,250 baseline normal-weight (NW) individuals, and doubled risk of obesity (OR = 2.03, P = 0.0005) among 2,571 individuals with baseline BMIs <30 kg/m(2). Compared with nonusers (+1.01 kg/m(2)), DeltaBMIs were significantly higher for ASB quartiles 2-4: +1.46 (P = 0.003), +1.50 (P = 0.002), and +1.78 kg/m(2) (P < 0.0001), respectively. Overall, adjusted DeltaBMIs were 47% greater among artificial sweetener (AS) users than nonusers (+1.48 kg/m(2) vs. +1.01 kg/m(2), respectively, P < 0.0001). In separate analyses--stratified by gender; ethnicity; baseline weight category, dieting, or diabetes status; or exercise-change category--DeltaBMIs were consistently greater among AS users. These differences, though not significant among exercise increasers, or those with baseline diabetes or BMI >30 kg/m(2) (P = 0.069), were significant in all 13 remaining strata. These findings raise the question whether AS use might be fueling--rather than fighting--our escalating obesity epidemic.

Frailty in older Mexican-American and European-American adults: is there an ethnic disparity?

Because conventional frailty screening criteria have been standardized in predominantly European-American (EA) cohorts, applying them to ethnically diverse populations may result in inaccurate estimation of frailty prevalence in ethnic minorities. The objective of this study was to determine whether use of ethnic-specific criteria (EC) to characterize frailty in a bi-ethnic cohort results in significant differences in frailty prevalence when compared with the prevalence obtained using conventional criteria (CC). Data were from a random sample of community-dwelling Mexican Americans (MAs) (n=394) and EAs (n=355) aged 65 to 80 who participated in the baseline examination of the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging. Frailty was defined as three or more of five characteristics: slow walking speed, weak grip strength, low energy expenditure, self-reported exhaustion, and weight loss. For CC, walking speed was standardized to height and sex, grip strength was standardized to body mass index and sex, and energy expenditure was standardized to sex using the pooled sample. For EC, these criteria were applied within each ethnic group. Frailty prevalence in MAs and EAs was compared using chi-square statistic. Using CC, a higher proportion of MAs than EAs were frail (11.3% vs 7.0%, P=.045). Using EC, there was no difference in frailty prevalence between MAs and EAs (9.9% in both ethnic groups). The application of conventional frailty screening criteria in a bi-ethnic cohort results in a higher prevalence of frailty in MAs than in EAs. In determining whether there are ethnic disparities in frailty, future studies should carefully consider whether CC or EC should be applied.

Urinary incontinence in community-dwelling older Mexican American and European American women

The aim was to measure prevalence and correlates of urinary incontinence in community-dwelling Mexican American (MA) and European American (EA) women from a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a longitudinal cohort. Participants were MA and EA women, aged 65 years and older, in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging (SALSA), of whom 421 (97.4%) responded to the question "How often do you have difficulty holding your urine until you can get to a toilet." Measurements included sociodemographic, functional, cognitive, psychosocial, and clinical status variables derived from bilingual interviews and performance-based tests. Urinary incontinence prevalence was 36.6% (n=154). MA women reported less incontinence than did EAs (29% versus 45%, p=0.001). In multivariable analyses in MA women, urinary incontinence correlated with the presence of fecal incontinence (OR 4.0, 95% CI 1.1-14.0) and more dependency in activities of daily living (1.4, 1.1-1.8) after controlling for significant sociodemographic factors. In EA women, only age >75 (4.2, 1.4-12.4) was associated with urinary incontinence. MA women were less likely to report incontinence compared to EAs, despite MAs having increased number of children, less education, higher BMI, and more diabetes. Further research is needed to evaluate risk factors for urinary incontinence among MA women.

The metabolic syndrome and the impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease mortality in women and men: the San Antonio Heart Study

PURPOSE

An explanation for the differential impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in men and women is that diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share a common antecedent that differentially affects men and women. In the San Antonio Heart Study we examined the relationship between gender, the metabolic syndrome defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-MetS) and diabetes and their ability to predict CHD mortality.

METHODS

Over 15.5 years, 4996 men and women 25 to 64 years of age experienced 254 cardiovascular deaths, including 121 from CHD (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes 410-414).

RESULTS

At baseline, NCEP-MetS occurred more often in men than in women among those with normal glucose levels (12.3% vs. 9.7%, p < 0.05), but less often in men than in women among those with diabetes (65.7% vs. 74.4%, p < 0.05). Adjusted for age, ethnic group, and a history of CVD, relative to women with neither diabetes nor NCEP-MetS, women with both had a 14-fold (hazard ratio [HR] = 14.3 [95% confidence interval: 6.62, 30.7]) increased risk of CHD mortality, whereas men had only a 4-fold (HR = 4.21 (95% confidence interval: 2.32, 7.65]) increased risk, respectively.

CONCLUSION

When diabetes occurred with NCEP-MetS, gender was a strong modifier of the joint effect of diabetes and NCEP-MetS on CHD mortality.