Thirty-Six–Item Short-Form Outcomes Following a Randomized Controlled Trial in Type 2 Diabetes

The goals of clinical interventions in diabetes are to improve not only medical outcomes but health status and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as well. The Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form (SF-36) (1) remains the most widely used measure of HRQOL in medical research. We report on change in HRQOL, as assessed using the SF-36, following a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in urban African Americans with type 2 diabetes, a population overrepresented in diabetes prevalence and adverse diabetes outcomes but with relatively little HRQOL research. Between 1995 and 2000, we conducted a four-arm RCT (2) of the effects of nurse case manager (NCM) and community health worker (CHW) interventions on risk factors for diabetes-related complications in a sample of 186 African Americans with type 2 diabetes in east Baltimore, Maryland. The 2-year trial compared usual care with NCM, CHW, and combined NCM and CHW interventions. The interventions targeted traditional aspects of diabetes care along with socioeconomic factors and home environment. SF-36 was administered at baseline (3) and 2-year follow-up. One hundred forty-nine persons (84%) completed the 2-year follow-up visit. Pearsons χ2 analyses and two-sample t tests revealed no differences between participants who completed the follow-up and those who did not …