Diabetes Control Among Urban Black Americans

In the U.S., black people are twice as likely to have diabetes mellitus (DM) as white people, and blacks are at higher risk for diabetic complications, including blindness, lower limb amputation, and renal disease. To evaluate whether an intensive intervention would improve diabetes control in an urban black population, Baltimore researchers enrolled 542 people with type 2 diabetes (mean age, 58; 73% women; mean glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA_1c] level, 7.8%; 50% living in poverty). Participants were randomized to an intensive intervention that provided visits by nurses (≥1 visit annually) and community health workers (≥3 visits annually) and focused on patients' specific social and medical needs or to a minimal intervention that provided twic…