Long-term outcomes of lifestyle intervention to prevent type 2 diabetes in people at high risk in primary health care

AimsThe Finnish National Diabetes Prevention Program (FIN-D2D) was the first large-scale diabetes prevention program in a primary health care setting in the world. The risk reduction of type 2 diabetes was 69% after one-year intervention in high-risk individuals who were able to lose 5% of their weight. We investigated long-term effects of one-year weight change on the incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular events, and all-cause mortality.MethodsA total of 10,149 high-risk individuals for type 2 diabetes were identified in primary health care centers and they were offered lifestyle intervention to prevent diabetes. Of these individuals who participated in the baseline screening, 8353 had an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Complete follow-up data during one-year intervention were available for 2730 individuals and those were included in the follow-up analysis. The long-term outcome events were collected from national health registers after the median follow-up of 7.4 years.ResultsAmong individuals who lost weight 2.5?4.9% and 5% or more during the first year, the hazard ratio for the incidence of drug-treated diabetes was 0.63 (95% CI 0.49?0.81, p = 0.0001), and 0.71 (95% CI 0.56?0.90, p = 0.004), respectively, compared with those with stable weight. There were no significant differences in cardiovascular events or all-cause mortality among study participants according to one-year weight changes.ConclusionsHigh-risk individuals for type 2 diabetes who achieved a moderate weight loss by one-year lifestyle counseling in primary health care had a long-term reduction in the incidence of drug-treated type 2 diabetes. The observed moderate weight loss was not associated with a reduction in cardiovascular events.