METHODS: This was a quasi-experimental study conducted in two sub-urban communities in Seremban, Malaysia. A total of 268 participants with prediabetes aged between 18 to 65 years old were assigned to either the community-based lifestyle intervention (Co-HELP) (n = 122) or the usual care (n = 146) groups. The Co-HELP program was delivered in partnership with the existing community volunteers to incorporate diet, physical activity, and behaviour modification strategies. Participants in the Co-HELP group received twelve group-based sessions and two individual counselling to reinforce behavioural change. Participants in the usual care group received standard health education from primary health providers in the clinic setting. Primary outcomes were fasting blood glucose, 2-hour plasma glucose, and HbA1C. Secondary outcomes included weight, BMI, waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, physical activity, diet, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

RESULTS: An intention-to-treat analysis of between-groups at 12-month (mean difference, 95% CI) revealed that the Co-HELP participants' mean fasting plasma glucose reduced by -0.40 mmol/l (-0.51 to -0.28, p<0.001), 2-hour post glucose by -0.58 mmol/l (-0.91 to -0.24, p<0.001), HbA1C by -0.24% (-0.34 to -0.15, p<0.001), diastolic blood pressure by -2.63 mmHg (-3.79 to -1.48, p<0.01), and waist circumference by -2.44 cm (-4.75 to -0.12, p<0.05) whereas HDL cholesterol increased by 0.12 mmol/l (0.05 to 0.13, p<0.01), compared to the usual care group. Significant improvements were also found in HRQOL for both physical component (PCS) by 6.51 points (5.21 to 7.80, p<0.001) and mental component (MCS) by 7.79 points (6.44 to 9.14, p<0.001). Greater proportion of participants from the Co-HELP group met the clinical recommended target of 5% or more weight loss from the initial weight (24.6% vs 3.4%, p<0.001) and physical activity of >600 METS/min/wk (60.7% vs 32.2%, p<0.001) compared to the usual care group.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that a culturally adapted diabetes prevention program can be implemented in the community setting, with reduction of several diabetes risk factors and improvement of HRQOL. Collaboration with existing community partners demonstrated a promising channel for the wide-scale dissemination of diabetes prevention at the community level. Further studies are required to determine whether similar outcomes could be achieved in communities with different socioeconomic backgrounds and geographical areas.

METHODS: We used an adapted version of a 26-item validated questionnaire, including four subscales: knowledge, attitude, behavior, and future use of evidence-based practice (EBP). The four components were compared among the students in the three medical schools before the module using one-way ANOVA. At the end of the module, we measured only knowledge and attitudes. We computed Cronbach's α to assess the reliability of the responses in our population. To assess the change in knowledge and attitudes, we used the paired t-test in the comparison of scores before and after the module.

RESULTS: In total, 526 students (224 UI, 202 UM, and 100 UMCU) completed the questionnaires. In the three medical schools, Cronbach's α for the pre-module total score and the four subscale scores always exceeded 0.62. UMCU students achieved the highest pre-module scores in all subscales compared to UI and UM with the comparison of average (SD) score as the following: knowledge 5.04 (0.4) vs. 4.73 (0.69) and 4.24 (0.74), p<0.001; attitude 4.52 (0.64) vs. 3.85 (0.68) and 3.55 (0.63), p<0.001; behavior 2.62 (0.55) vs. 2.35 (0.71) and 2.39 (0.92), p=0.016; and future use of EBP 4.32 (0.59) vs. 4.08 (0.62) and 3.7 (0.71), p<0.01. The CE-EBM module increased the knowledge of the UMCU (from average 5.04±0.4 to 5.35±0.51; p<0.001) and UM students (from average 4.24±0.74 to 4.53±0.72; p<0.001) but not UI. The post-module scores for attitude did not change in the three medical schools.