# A Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Diabetes Disparities in Chinese Americans

> **NIH NIH R00** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $249,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Chinese Americans are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in the US, who suffer disproportionately
high type 2 diabetes (T2D) burden and have poorly controlled T2D. Despite the well-documented T2D
disparities in this minority group, limited work has been conducted to improve health outcomes in Chinese
Americans. The goal of this Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) is to expedite the candidate's
transition to an independent investigator who possesses focused expertise in development and evaluation of
culturally and linguistically tailored and sustainable interventions to reduce T2D disparities in Chinese
Americans. In the K99 phase of this award, the candidate will obtain critical training needed to accomplish this
goal and will develop a short message service (SMS) intervention to improve T2D management in Chinese
Americans. In the R00 phase, the candidate will utilize acquired skills to conduct a pilot randomized controlled
trial to examine the potential efficacy of the SMS intervention. In the K99 phase, the candidate will also
conduct pilot work to develop linguistically and culturally tailored SMS intervention content and to refine the
intervention to be tested in the R00 phase. More specifically, the aims are to 1) characterize barriers and
facilitators of glycemic control in Chinese Americans with T2D (Aim 1a); 2) develop culturally and linguistically
tailored SMS intervention content (Aim 1b); and 3) assess the feasibility and acceptability of the SMS
intervention in a pre-, post-test study (Aim 1c). In the R00 phase, the candidate will refine the SMS intervention
based on the K99 pilot data and evaluate the proof-of-concept regarding its efficacy in a pilot randomized
controlled trial among 66 Chinese Americans with T2D (Aim 2). Participants will be randomized to one of 2
arms (n=33 each): 1) wait-list control and 2) SMS intervention. Both groups will continue to receive standard of
care treatment for their T2D. The SMS group will receive brief lifestyle counseling videos via SMS links. At the
end of the study, the wait-list control group will be provided the opportunity to receive the SMS-based
counseling videos. Measurements will be obtained at baseline, 3, and 6 months. The primary outcome is
HbA1c and secondary outcomes include self-efficacy, diabetes self-management behaviors, dietary intake and
physical activity behaviors. Linear mixed modeling will be used to examine the group and group by time
interaction effects between the SMS intervention and wait-list control group. Findings from this R00 study will
inform a larger full-scale R01 efficacy trial of the SMS intervention, and ultimately, establish the candidate's
program of research focused on developing and testing sustainable interventions to reduce disparities in
chronic disease outcomes in Chinese Americans. This project can serve as a program model for other chronic
disease interventions in Chinese Americans that require lifestyle modific...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9993687
- **Project number:** 4R00MD012811-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Lu Hu
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $249,000
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2018-08-23 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9993687

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9993687, A Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Diabetes Disparities in Chinese Americans (4R00MD012811-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9993687. Licensed CC0.

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