Evaluation of an Intervention for Young Adults With Diabetes: Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T) (REAL-T)

Evaluation of a Complex Intervention for Young Adults With Diabetes: The Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T) Study

This study will evaluate (1) the efficacy of REAL-T, a lifestyle-based telehealth intervention, in improving glycemic control (HbA1c) and psychosocial outcomes, (2) which effects are retained over a 6-month follow-up period, and (3) the mediating mechanisms responsible for the intervention's effects. Half of participants will receive REAL-T, while the other half will receive their usual care.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T)

Detailed Description

Evaluation of a Complex Behavioral Intervention for Young Adults with Diabetes: The Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T) Study will address the unmet self-management and psychosocial needs of young adults (YAs) with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

We will conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial (n=210) to compare the 6-month REAL-T intervention to usual care in improving glycemic control (A1c and continuous glucose monitor-derived measures), psychosocial well-being, and hypothesized intervention mediators. In addition, we will perform health economic analyses to determine the extent to which REAL-T is cost-effective or produces cost savings.

The study's specific aims are as follows:

Aim 1: Evaluate the efficacy of REAL-T in improving glycemic control and psychosocial well-being.

• Hypothesis 1: Over a 6-month intervention period (including 3 and 6 month measures), YAs with T1D who receive REAL-T demonstrate improvements in glycemic control, in comparison to YAs with T1D who receive usual care.
• Hypothesis 2: Over a 6-month period (including 3 and 6 month measures), YAs with T1D who receive REAL-T demonstrate gains in psychosocial well-being in comparison to YAs with T1D who receive usual care.

Aim 2: Assess the post-intervention durability (at 3 and 6 months post-intervention) of REAL-T's effects on glycemic control and psychosocial well-being.

• Hypothesis 1: Among YAs with T1D, improvements in glycemic control that result from REAL-T relative to usual care are maintained at 3 and 6 months post-treatment.
• Hypothesis 2: Among YAs with T1D, improvements in psychosocial well-being that result from REAL-T relative to usual care are maintained at 3 and 6 months post-treatment.

Aim 3: Examine mediating mechanisms of the REAL-T intervention's effects on glycemic control and psychosocial well-being through structural equation modeling (SEM).

• Hypothesis 1: Improvements in diabetes self-care behaviors mediate positive intervention effects on glycemic control and psychosocial well-being.
• Hypothesis 2: Improvements in self-efficacy mediate positive intervention effects on psychosocial well-being and partially mediate positive effects on diabetes self-care behaviors.
• Hypothesis 3: Improvements in habit strength for diabetes self-care behaviors partially mediate positive intervention effects on the performance of diabetes self-care behaviors.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 209
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033
      • USC Center for Health Professionals

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 30 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• T1D for ≥12 months
• A1c ≥7.5% at time of study enrollment
• Age 18-30 yrs. at time of study enrollment
• English or Spanish speaking
• Resides in a state where OT clinicians are licensed, in an area where the participant has access to a local healthcare provider in the event of emergency and can complete data collection in person (when permitted) or via mailings (when required during period of social distance or due to distance from study site)
• Participant has access to a laptop or desktop computer, either their own or loaned by the study (if geographically feasible and permitted given COVID-19 social distancing distractions)
• Willing to participate in 6-month intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently pregnant or planning to become pregnant within the next 12 months
• Previously received REAL intervention
• Cognitive impairment or severe disability limiting life expectancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Lifestyle Intervention; Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T)	Behavioral: Resilient, Empowered, Active Living-Telehealth (REAL-T); REAL-T is an individually-tailored occupational therapy intervention that focuses on incorporating diabetes self-care into participants' daily habits and routines. Participants receive approximately 12 hours of intervention, delivered via telehealth over 6 months by a licensed occupational therapist with training in diabetes education, motivational interviewing, and the REAL Diabetes intervention protocol.
No Intervention: Usual Care; Participants will continue to have access to routine diabetes care from the provider of their choosing; they will not receive any study-related intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Glycemic Control, Using Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1C)	HbA1C is a measure of average blood glucose concentration over approximately the previous 12 weeks. HbA1C will be measured using a finger-prick test using the DCA Vantage Analyzer point-of-care system OR AccuBase A1c test with DTI Laboratories. Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported.	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline to 6-months Post-test in Diabetes-related Quality of Life, Using the "Audit of Diabetes-Dependent Quality of Life-15" (ADD-QoL-15)	15-item questionnaire assessing diabetes-related quality of life (qol). Each item contains two parts. Part A is: "If I did not have diabetes, [the question topic] would be", followed by 5 options ranging from "very much better" (or similar; scored as -3) to "worse" (or similar; scored as 1). The fourth option is always "the same" and scored as 0. Part B is: "[the question topic] is" followed by 4 options ranging from "very important" (scored as 3) to "not at all important" (scored as 0). For each question, scores on parts A and B are multiplied, and the 15 products are summed for a total score. Questions 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, & 11 have preliminary yes/no questions, and when a "no" response is given, parts A and B are skipped and the score for that question is 0. The minimum score on each question is -9 and the maximum is 3, with total scores ranging from -135 to 45. Higher/more positive scores represent a better outcome; Lower/ more negative scores represent a worse outcome.	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months Post-test in Diabetes-related Emotional Distress, Using the "Diabetes Distress Scale" (DDS)	17-item questionnaire assessing diabetes-related emotional distress. Total scores (mean score on all 17 items) range from 1 to 6, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome. Sub-scale scores (emotional burden, physician-related distress, regimen-related distress, and interpersonal distress) each range from 1 to 6, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome. A total or sub-scale score 2.0 - 2.9 should be considered 'moderate distress,' and a total or sub-scale score > 3.0 should be considered 'high distress.'	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months Post-test in Glycemia, Using Percent Time-in-Range	The percentage of time when blood glucose was between 70 and 180 mg/dl, as measured by a continuous glucose monitor worn for 14 days.	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months Post-test in Glycemia, Using Percent Time in Hyperglycemia	The percentage of time when blood glucose was above 180 mg/dl, as measured by a continuous glucose monitor worn for 14 days.	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months Post-test in Glycemia, Using Percent Time in Hypoglycemia	The percentage of time when blood glucose was below 70 mg/dl, as measured by a continuous glucose monitor worn for 14 days.	Assessed at Baseline and 6 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Functional Health and Well-being, Using the "SF-12v2® Health Survey"	Short Form 12-item Health Survey Ver. 2 (SF-12v2) is a 12-item questionnaire assessing functional health & well-being over the last 4 weeks in 8 health domains (physical functioning, role participation with physical health problems, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role participation with emotional health problems, mental health), all from the patient's point of view. These 8 domains can be summarized into a physical component summary (PCS) and a mental component summary (MCS). Higher scores indicate a better health state. MCS and PCS scores range from 0-100. Scores are calibrated using general population-derived normative data so that 50 is the avg score or norm. Results can be further summarized into a single preference-based health utility number ranging from 1 (equivalent to perfect health) to 0 (equivalent to being dead), using a complex scoring algorithm (SF-6D) derived from surveying a general U.S. population's preferences for specific health states.	Assessed at Baseline, 6 months, and 12 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Global Diabetes Self-management, Using the "Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire-Revised" (DSMQ-R).	27-item questionnaire assessing self-care activities associated with glycemic control. Higher values indicate more effective self-management. Transformed scores = Actual sum of items / maximum possible sum of items x 10. Total transformed scores range from 0 to 10. Transformed scores on six sub-scales (Dietary control, Glucose management, Glucose monitoring, Medication adherence, Physical activity, and Physician contact) also range from 0 to 10.	Assessed at Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Medication Adherence, Using the "3-item Adherence Self-report Scale" Questionnaire	3-item questionnaire (Wilson,Lee, Fowler, & Rogers, 2016) assessing adherence to diabetes medication regimen. Item responses for the three adherence items are linearly transformed to a 0-100 scale with zero being the worst adherence, and 100 the best. A total summary score is calculated as the mean of the three individual items, with a range of 0 to 100.	Assessed at Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Self-efficacy for Performing Diabetes Self-management, Using the "Diabetes Empowerment Scale - Short Form" (DES-SF)	8-item questionnaire assessing self-efficacy for performing diabetes self-management, using 5-point likert scales. The scale is scored by averaging the scores of all completed items. Scores range from 8 to 40, with higher scores indicating higher self-efficacy.	Assessed at Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported
Change From Baseline to 6-months in Autonomy of Taking Insulin and/or Checking Blood Sugar, Using the "Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire" (TSRQ)	19-item questionnaire, adapted for type 1 diabetes, assessing the degree to which a person's motivation for a particular behavior or a set of behaviors is relatively autonomous or self-determined. Each item can receive a value ranging from 1 - 7 as selected by the participant. The scale has 2 sub-scales: the autonomous regulatory style and the controlled regulatory style. Calculating the scores for the sub-scales consists of averaging the items on that sub-scale. A Relative Autonomous Motivation Index can be formed by subtracting the average for the controlled reasons from the average for the autonomous reasons. Scores range from 1 to 7, with 7 indicating a strong identification with the given autonomy style. The autonomous regulatory style represents the most self-determined form of motivation.	Assessed at Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months; change from baseline to 6 months reported

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Background Information	19-item questionnaire, designed by the study, gathering background data on demographic characteristics and baseline healthcare utilization (for prior 3 months). No total score will be calculated. Scores on individual items will be used as covariates in various analyses.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Pyatak, PhD, OTR/L, University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 22, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 5, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 18, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 15, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 15, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): July 17, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 21, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 30, 2026
• Last Verified: July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, randomized controlled trial
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Endocrine System Diseases; Metabolic Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1R01DK116719 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No