Diabetes and Vascular Disease

SUN-659 - Successful Mixed-Method Recruitment of African Americans in A Tailored Diabetes Prevention Program

Sunday, June 14, 2026

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM CT

Location: ENDOExpo; Poster Floor

Abstract Poster Presenter(s)

MP

Mariah Pratt, BHS, CHES

Research Assistant
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Co-Author(s)

BN

Bong Nguyen, PhD (she/her/hers)

Sr. Research Associate
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Kansas city, MO, United States
PC

Pavani Chilamkuri, MPH, MBBS

Clinical data analyst
University Health
Kansas City, MO, United States
TT

Turquoise Templeton, MS

Senior Research Assistant
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
BD

Betty Drees, MD

Professor Emerita
University of Missouri at Kansas City Endocrine Fellowship Program
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
CB

Carole Bowe Thompson, n/a

Research Specialist
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
JA

Jenifer Allsworth, PhD

Vice Chair
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
RB

Rajib Bhattacharya, MD, FACE

Chief of Endocrinology and Metabolism and Weight Management, Professor of Internal Medicine
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Senior Author/Primary Investigator(s)

JB

Jannette Berkley-Patton, PhD, MA

Curator's Distinguished Professor
University of Missouri Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Disclosure(s):

Bong Nguyen, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose

Pavani Chilamkuri, MPH, MBBS: No financial relationships to disclose

Recruiting African Americans (AA) into a lifestyle change program (LCP) clinical trial presents challenges, yet little is known about effective recruitment strategies. The purpose of this study is to describe the methods, strategies, and efforts involved in recruiting AA adults with prediabetes for FIT4ALL (ClinicalTrial.gov ID: NCT05301413), a community-based, 12-month, 22-session diabetes prevention program.
Recruitment started by identifying AAs with prediabetes from an electronic medical record (EMR) in a Missouri safety net hospital, followed largely by mailing letters and interpersonal outreach methods (e.g., phone calls, physician- and self-referrals to potential participants). Next, eligibility prescreening was conducted by phone. Potential participants who met the criteria were invited to a study clinic visit, consisting of obtaining informed consent, re-confirming eligibility, and collecting baseline data.
From July 2022 to December 2024, a total of 7,144 potential patients were identified (7,109 from EMR and 35 from referrals), with 16,091 call attempts conducted over 1,446 total calling hours. Call attempts were made up to 5 times to reach potential patients by phone. Overall, 2,626 (36.8%) were prescreened, of which 759 were eligible, while 1,867 declined or were excluded. Out of the eligible patients, 361 were enrolled, meeting the study’s recruitment goal of 360. A total of 4,518 (63.2%) potential participants could not be reached and prescreened.
This study displayed purposeful, resource-intensive efforts in recruiting AAs with prediabetes for a LCP. Its success in reaching its recruitment goal was based largely on the use of interpersonal strategies well-suited for recruiting AAs in LCPs. However, despite extensive outreach, almost half of potential participants could not be reached, indicating barriers to engaging AAs in LCP randomized control trials. These findings signify remaining gaps for recruiting racial minorities into LCPs, helping to inform future directions for research and program efforts.

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