In a new study from West Virginia University, researchers found that taking part in a year-long diabetes-prevention program supports the addition of 4.4 quality-adjusted life-years to participants’ average lifespan.
Quality-adjusted life-years—or QALYS—don’t just take lifespan into account.
They also factor in physical, mental, social and functional health. QALYS help to measure disease burden, and show how the quality and quantity of life lived is impacted by taking part in interventions.
In the study, the team analyzed data from West Virginia Health Connection, a new online network of clinical and community-based partners working together to prevent and control chronic diseases—like diabetes—in the state.
The data encompassed 320 individuals who had completed the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
The team found that participating in the program caused an increase of 0.2 QALYS after one year, with projected increases of 1.1 QALYS after three years and 4.4 QALYS after 10 years.
At the start of programming, 80.3% of participants were obese, 19.4% were overweight and only 0.3% had a normal weight.
By the end of programming, participants had lost 13.6 pounds—or 6.3% of their total body weight—on average. Projecting three years out, this represents a 32.4% overall risk reduction for developing diabetes.
The team also found that the program was associated with a $120 decrease in annual medical costs per participant. After three years of participation, annual savings amount to $341 per person. After 10 years? $989.
By year three, the net cost to run the program falls to $50 per person. Projecting 10 years out, the programming generates enough healthcare savings that it more than offsets the cost of running the program itself.
West Virginia Health Connection addresses this need by essentially putting all diabetes-prevention programming in the state under one roof, connecting primary care physicians and specialists to community-based health leaders providing this needed programming.
And it’s especially important in West Virginia, which has the nation’s second-highest rate of diabetes among adults, at 15%. As of 2018, another 11% of adults were diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and still more remain undiagnosed.
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The study is published in Perspectives in Health Information Management. One author of the study is Adam Baus.
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