Critical Review: Effects of Lifestyle Intervention in Persons at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus -Results from a Randomized, Controlled Trial



Critical Review: Effects of Lifestyle Intervention in Persons at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus -Results from a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Introduction

The article under review has been written after extensive research and study of eighteen months. It manly focuses on the effects of lifestyles change in individuals, who are at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The authors present his views about the lifestyle intervention in the persons at risk of the studied disease. The authors compare the effects of physician's intervention in low-intensity individual lifestyle with the same physician's intervention in the interdisciplinary group of people.

The method used by the authors to identify persons at high risk was the “Finnish Diabetes Risk score” (FINDRISC). It was a controlled and randomized design extended on eighteen months to assess the effects of counseling individuals (IG) for the lifestyle change with immense emphasis on diet and exercise for six months. The results then were compared to the effects of counseling on interdisciplinary individual groups (IIG), provided for sixteen months.

The results due to the intervention in lifestyle change showed gradual weight loss by diet and exercise, improvement in stamina for exercise. The outcomes were measured by VO2 and smart diet score. Total two hundred and thirteen participants took part in the research (109 for IIG and 104 for IG). The mean age of the participants was 46 and the mean weight was 37.

With the dropout of 15%, 182 participants followed up with their results. The results show no significant differences in lifestyle behaviors of the two groups. In both the groups, approximately 55% participants showed improvement with the increase of aerobic capacity by 34%. It was observed that 5% weight loss was shown by both groups.

The conclusion drawn by the authors show that clinical intervention in the change of individual's lifestyle plays a significant role to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The negligible dropout percentage shows that results can be applied to simple ordinary settings of clinics (Ross 2009, pp. 319-25).

Critical Analysis

The article review has many strengths and weaknesses. To critically analyze the authors' work it is important to study the various aspects of the article, such as methods used, validity of he results, population who participated in the study of relevant articles, cost effectiveness of the study, and the application of the results on the large group of population. Reviewing all these aspects will make a comprehensive critical analysis of the article.

Study Methods

In the research study FINDRISC has been used to collect data. Various authors are of the view that FINDRISC is a useful screening tool to identify the cases of diabetes. The questionnaire has been designed to identify individuals with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in future. The performance of the study tool was good, brought valid results, simple, non-invasive and inexpensive. The tool used by the authors suggests that implementing programs for ...