Objectives. We assessed whether community health workers (CHWs) could
improve glycemic control among Mexican Americans with diabetes.
Methods. We recruited 144 Mexican Americans with type 2 diabetes between
January 2006 and September 2008 into the single-blinded, randomized con-
trolled Mexican American Trial of Community Health Workers (MATCH) and
followed them for 2 years. Participants were assigned to either a CHW inter-
vention, delivering self-management training through 36 home visits over
2 years, or a bilingual control newsletter delivering the same information on the
same schedule.
Results. Intervention participants showed significantly lower hemoglobin A1c
levels than control participants at both year 1 A = -0.55; P=.021) and year 2
(d=-0.69; P = .005). We observed no effect on blood pressure control, glucose
self-monitoring, or adherence to medications or diet. Intervention partici-
pants increased physical activity from a mean of 1.63 days per week at baseline
to 2.64 days per week after 2 years.
Conclusions. A self-management intervention delivered by CHWs resulted
in sustained improvements in glycemic control over 2 years among Mexican
Americans with diabetes. MATCH adds to the growing body of evidence
supporting the use of CHWs to reduce diabetes-related health disparities. (Am J
Public Health.