Diabetes Prevention Program

Stored: Diabetes Prevention Program

Diabetes Prevention Program
Type	Initiative
Sponsor Organization	National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Top Organization	Department of Health and Human Services
Creation Legislation	Public Law 103-183
Website	Website
Purpose	Diabetes Prevention Program tested if lifestyle changes or meds could delay type 2 diabetes, aiming to guide health strategies with solid evidence.
Program Start	1996
Initial Funding	$174.3 million
Duration	1996–2002
Historic	Yes

The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) was a landmark multicenter clinical research study initiated by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) within the Department of Health and Human Services to address the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes. Conducted from 1996 to 2002, the DPP demonstrated that intensive lifestyle interventions—focused on diet, exercise, and weight loss—could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% in high-risk individuals, while metformin, a common diabetes medication, reduced the risk by 31%. This initiative, involving over 3,000 participants across 27 U.S. sites, provided foundational evidence for diabetes prevention strategies and has since transitioned into the ongoing Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS) to assess long-term impacts.

Official Site

Goals

Determine whether a structured lifestyle intervention achieving 7% weight loss and 150 minutes of weekly physical activity could prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in at-risk individuals.
Evaluate the efficacy of metformin compared to lifestyle changes and a placebo in preventing diabetes onset.
Establish evidence-based benchmarks for diabetes prevention, targeting a significant reduction in incidence rates among participants with impaired glucose tolerance.

Organization

The Diabetes Prevention Program was organized by the NIDDK, with the trial’s coordinating center based at George Washington University’s Biostatistics Center. It was structured as a randomized controlled trial with three arms: lifestyle intervention, metformin treatment, and placebo, managed by a collaborative network of 27 clinical sites nationwide. Funding, totaling $174.3 million over its duration, came from NIH appropriations, with additional support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and other NIH entities. The program’s governance included a steering committee of principal investigators and NIDDK staff, ensuring rigorous scientific oversight. The leader held the title of **DPP Study Chair**, with Richard Eastman, M.D., serving initially, followed by David M. Nathan, M.D., who also chairs the DPPOS.

History

The Diabetes Prevention Program was established in 1996 amid growing concerns over type 2 diabetes prevalence, authorized under Public Law 103-183, the "National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993," which bolstered NIH research mandates. It emerged from prior studies linking lifestyle factors to diabetes risk, aiming to test interventions rigorously. Recruitment began in 1996, with the trial concluding primary data collection in 2001 and results published in 2002, showing lifestyle changes outperformed metformin. The DPP evolved into the DPPOS in 2002 to track long-term outcomes, such as sustained diabetes prevention and related health effects, with no major expansions planned beyond this transition due to its completed research scope.

Funding

The DPP was initially funded with $174.3 million from NIH appropriations, starting in 1996 and spanning its six-year duration until 2002. Funding covered participant recruitment, interventions, and data analysis, with contributions from multiple NIH institutes and the Indian Health Service. No additional funding was authorized post-2002 for the original trial, as it concluded, though the DPPOS received subsequent grants to continue follow-up, reflecting its shift to an observational phase. Financing relied entirely on federal research budgets, with costs justified by the program’s transformative impact on diabetes prevention policy.

Implementation

The DPP was implemented through a randomized controlled trial, enrolling 3,234 participants with impaired glucose tolerance across 27 sites. The lifestyle arm involved intensive coaching for 7% weight loss and 150 minutes of weekly exercise, delivered via a 16-session core curriculum followed by maintenance support, while the metformin arm provided 850 mg twice daily. Strategies emphasized standardized protocols and trained lifestyle coaches, with rollout completed by 2001 and the trial ending in 2002. Its defined end aligned with its research objectives, transitioning to DPPOS for long-term study.

External links

Social media

https://twitter.com/NIDDKgov

References