Translating and modifying Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) for diabetes risk reduction among Chinese immigrants

Chinese immigrants are one of the fastest growing population groups in the United States and they are at high risk for developing diabetes. This NIH-funded pilot study is designed to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of implementing a modified and culturally-appropriate Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), an intensive lifestyle intervention, among pre-diabetic Chinese immigrants. Presented here are the phase 1 formative evaluation findings. Methods: We conducted three focus groups in October and November, 2011. A total of 19 participants attended the meetings (10 females and 9 males). Discussion questions included translated DPP language, intervention format and preferred physical activity. Bilingual moderators facilitated the discussion in both Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. Each of the discussion session lasted approximately 1.5 hours and was tape-recorded. The tapes were transcribed and content analyzed. Results: our findings show that 1) participants indicated a need to include in the first session information about the prevalence of diabetes and the consequences of being diabetic, such as blindness and amputation as a stark warning for those not taking steps to maintain a healthy lifestyle, 2) an activity session, such as a walking group, be offered right after each group session so that study participants burden in terms of meeting frequency and travel time will be reduced, 3) make-up sessions provided by the lifestyle coach through phone calls are welcome for missed sessions, 4) a pedometer is an ideal daily physical activity self-monitoring tool. These findings will enable us to refine our materials and strategies for the phase 2 intervention.