Impact of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy programme on HbA1c, self-management and psychosocial factors in adults with type 1 diabetes and elevated HbA1c levels: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the impact of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) programme, tailored for people living with type 1 diabetes, on glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), self-management and psychosocial factors among individuals with HbA1c>60 mmol/mol compared with treatment as usual (TAU).Setting An endocrinologic clinic in Sweden.Participants In this randomised controlled trial, 81 individuals with type 1 diabetes, aged 18–70 years with HbA1c>60 mmol/mol, were randomly assigned to either an ACT group intervention or TAU. Exclusion criteria were: unable to speak Swedish, untreated or severe psychiatric disease, cortisone treatment, untreated thyroid disease and newly started insulin pump therapy. At the 2-year follow-up, HbA1c was measured in 26 individuals.Intervention The ACT programme comprised seven 2-hour sessions held over 14 weeks and focused on acceptance of stressful thoughts and emotions, and to promote value-based committed action.Outcomes The primary outcome was HbA1c, and the secondary outcomes were measures of depression, anxiety, general stress, fear of hypoglycaemia, diabetes distress, self-care activities, psychological flexibility (general and related to diabetes) and quality of life. The primary endpoint was HbA1c 2 years after the intervention programme. Linear mixed models were used to test for an interaction effect between measurement time and group.Results Likelihood ratio test of nested models demonstrated no statistically significant interaction effect (χ2=0.49, p=0.485) between measurement time and group regarding HbA1c. However, a statistically significant interaction effect (likelihood ratio test χ2=12.63, p<0.001) was observed with improved scores on The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire in the intervention group after 1 and 2 years.Conclusions No statistically significant difference was found between the groups regarding the primary outcome measure, HbA1c. However, the ACT programme showed a persistent beneficial impact on psychological flexibility in the intervention group. The dropout rate was higher than expected, which may indicate a challenge in this type of study.Trial registration number NCT02914496.