Effectiveness of Healthy Lifestyle Intervention on Diabetes Risk Reduction Among Bruneian Young Adults: a Randomised Controlled Trial
Effectiveness of Healthy Lifestyle Intervention on Diabetes Risk Reduction Among Bruneian Young Adults: a Randomised Controlled Trial
The general research question posed was 'How effective is a healthy lifestyle intervention using behavioural change strategies in the prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM)?'.
The main aim was to assess the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle intervention implemented for 12 weeks via face-to-face group sessions and by using social media tools (Facebook and WhatsApp) for young adults at risk of T2DM.
The hypothesis was that this healthy lifestyle intervention may be effective in terms of initiating an increased physical activity (PA) level and a healthy balanced dietary intake resulting in improvements of other T2DM risk factors at 12 weeks.
The specific research question posed was 'Is a healthy lifestyle intervention using Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)-based PA and dietary strategies implemented for 12 weeks through face-to-face group sessions and social media tools effective in the initiation and maintenance of increased PA level and healthy balanced dietary intake, resulting in improvements of T2DM risk score, anthropometrics, metabolic parameters and SCT-related psychosocial factors among Bruneian young adults at risk of T2DM?'.
Study design was two-arm parallel, stratified with simple randomisation, and assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial. Participants were randomly allocated into intervention group and control group. Participants were students and alumni of Universiti Brunei Darussalam and Universiti Teknologi Brunei who were overweight-obese at risk of T2DM with a mean age of 23.1 (2.48) years old. Intervention group went through a healthy lifestyle intervention using evidence-based SCT strategies emphasising on PA and diet for 12 weeks, while the control group only received leaflets on healthy lifestyle with no further guidance. Outcomes measured were changes from baseline at week 0 to post-intervention at week 13 between intervention and control groups. Outcomes were changes in diabetes risk score, anthropometrics, metabolic parameters, PA, dietary intake and SCT-related psychosocial factors, with repeated-measures ANOVA as the main analysis.
Inclusion Criteria: