Reference no: EM133659004
Case Study
Data from Long JA, Jahnle EC, Richardson DM, Loewenstein G, Volpp KG. Peer mentoring and financial incentives to improve glucose control in African American veterans. Ann Intern Med. 2012; 156:416-424.
Compared with white persons, African Americans have a greater incidence of diabetes. A research group wanted to know whether peer mentors or a financial incentive was better than the usual care received among African American veterans to decrease their blood glucose levels. Researchers chose a Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center as the location for their research study. Of 276 African American men between the ages of 50 and 70 who had poorly managed diabetes, only 192 could be contacted, of which 118 agreed to be in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: usual care, peer mentoring, or financial incentives. The participants were listed in an Excel file, and a group was assigned per every 40 participants. Using a random-number generator, each group was given a random number and put into ordered numbers in envelopes. The envelopes were sealed, shuffled, and stacked, and a research assistant took the top envelope after consent was obtained to determine group assignment. Neither the study investigators nor laboratory personnel knew who was in which group. All patients were given a baseline survey, and their blood glucose was measured prior to starting the intervention. The mentoring group was assigned trained peer mentors of similar age, sex, and ethnic background and was instructed to talk to their mentees at least once a week. Patients were called once a month to determine diabetic symptoms and intervention safety; blood glucose was tracked at participants' regular doctor's appointments. At the end of 6 months, the intervention was complete, and the data were analyzed. Researchers found that peer mentoring was statistically significant in reducing blood glucose levels over financial incentives and care as usual.
Questions
What was the purpose of this research study?
Who was the target audience? How many were included in the study?
How were participants assigned? Randomly - blinded
What kind of evaluation design was this? Using the notation learned in class, describe the evaluation design.
How many observations were there?
What was the intervention?
What was the outcome?