Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Fully-Automated Digital vs. Human Coach-Based Diabetes Prevention Programs

After being informed about the study and potential risk, all participants giving written informed consent will undergo screening to determine eligibility for study entry. At baseline visit (month 0). Participants who meet the eligibility requirements will be randomly assigned in 1:1 ratio to human coach-based diabetes prevention program or digital diabetes prevention program. An equal number of participants will be randomly assigned to both groups (like flipping a coin). If participants are randomly assigned to receive the human coach-based diabetes prevention program, the participants will be referred to a local Diabetes Prevention Program close to the participants' area. The Diabetes Prevention Program consists of 16 weekly sessions during months 1 to 6 and 6 sessions during months 7 to 12. These group sessions may be delivered in-person at the local program or remotely using video conferencing. During these sessions, participants will receive information about lifestyle change behaviors focusing on weight loss, physical activity, and nutrition from a trained lifestyle coach. If participants are randomly assigned to receive the digital Diabetes Prevention Program, the participants will receive the Sweetch Digital Health Kit (Sweetch Health, Ltd.) in the mail within approximately 8-12 days of the participants' first study visit. The Sweetch digital health kit consists of a smartphone app and a digital body weight scale that is connected via Bluetooth to the app. The phone app also consists of brief Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lessons on type 2 diabetes prevention, which participants will be encouraged to complete. There will be a total of 3 study visits (baseline, 6 months, and 12 months), each visit includes fingerstick hemoglobin A1C measurement, weight measurement, and completion of several questionnaires. Height will be measured at the first visit. Throughout the 12-month study, participants will be asked to wear a device on the participants' wrist to measure physical activity for 7 consecutive days following the first visit and once every month thereafter.