210 - YOUNG LEADERS IN DIABETES TRAINING LEAD TO DECREASE OF YOUTH’S HBA1C WHILE INCREASING THEIR DIABETES KNOWLEDGE AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Abstract
Background and Aims
The Young Leaders in Diabetes (YLD) is a semester-long training, held since 2009. Among the leadership skills developed are: fundraising, basic and advanced management of diabetes, diabetes education, health policies and advocacy, influence, effective communication and interpersonal relationships. YLD are followed to assess their growth on the empowerment ladder, which impacts their community and the entire society. Our aim with this study was to understand how much the 6-month training impacted the HbA1c and diabetes knowledge in a subgroup of YLD.
Methods
Thirteen individuals (5 men, 22±4.5y) performed HbA1c exams and took a diabetes knowledge test of 35 questions: 32 multiple-choice and 3 open-ended questions based on IDF guidelines - twice, before starting and after concluding the training. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to compare knowledge test grades and HbA1c values pre and post training; and also pre-training and current HbA1c of nine YLD.
Results
HbA1c results decreased significantly (pre: 8.0±0.5%, post: 6.9±0.3%; p=0.049); and knowledge test grades increased significantly (pre: 7.9±0.2, 8.6±0.2; p=0.012). HbA1c values continued to be significantly lower even years after concluding the training for all 9 individuals followed for 1 to 9 years post-training (current HbA1c: 7.1±0.2% p=0.035). Interestingly, none of the YLD have started pump or sensor therapy during the training, thus, these technologies were not interfering factor.
Conclusions
We attribute the HbA1c improvement and its maintenance to knowledge and skills developed by YLD during the training. In a future study, we plan to investigate the impact of starting pump and sensor on maintaining the HbA1c after YLD.
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