Background/objectives: Youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who experience avoidable complications often have dangerously high and consistently elevated HbA1c values. Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH), a program designed to effectively intervene with this population, has demonstrated success with reducing avoidable complications and improving HbA1c in these youth. However, prior examinations of program outcomes have not included a comparison group. This is the first study to compare electronic health record (EHR) outcomes (i.e., HbA1c values, hospital utilization) of NICH youth to a comparison group.
Methods: Youth with T1D and avoidable complications were referred to NICH (n = 101; NICH = 40; comparison = 61) from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Retrospective EHR review included one year prior to and two years post NICH referral. Outcomes included hospitalization utilization and HbA1c values. There were no significant demographic differences between NICH and unserved youth (M age = 14.05 years; 50% female).
Results: Within-group analyses revealed that NICH youth demonstrated a significant reduction in mean (M) admissions from one year prior to two years post-referral (M = 1.55 to M = 0.99; p = 0.011) as well as reduced HbA1c values from pre-referral to one year post-referral (M = 11.64%; 287 mg/dL; 15.9 mmol/L to M = 10.87; 265 mg/dL; 14.7 mmol/L; (p = 0.006)). Between-group analyses revealed NICH youth had lower proportions of individuals with an HbA1c over 10% (240 mg/dL; 13.3 mmol/L) (p = 0.03) compared to comparison group youth at one year post-referral. ANOVA analyses showed a significant reduction in admissions in linear interaction F (1,95) = 4.036, (p = 0.047), indicating that NICH youth demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in admissions over time compared to comparison youth.
Conclusions: This study was the first to compare the health outcomes of NICH youth to a comparison group. NICH youth demonstrated significant reductions in admissions and HbA1c values over time.
Keywords: admissions; behavioral health; comparison group; diabetes; glycemia; health disparities; health equity; matched pair; retrospective cohort; social risk.