Specimen and Data Collection in South Carolina Medicaid-Enrolled Patients With Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and Metabolically Healthy Controls

Overview

The primary purpose of this study is to use multiomic data in combination with clinical assessments, electronic health records, cognitive and mood assessments, wearable technologies and lifestyle/behavioral data to identify data elements or combinations of data elements with strong positive or negative correlation to CKD diagnosis and/or progression in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) patients. Achieving this aim will allow researchers and physicians to significantly improve the prediction of health trajectories of and formulate novel strategies to potentially prevent, treat or reverse T2D. South Carolina Medicaid-enrolled patients diagnosed with T2D and a smaller subset of non-T2D SC Medicaid patients may participate in this study. Participants who complete required procedures will be compensated for their time and transportation, may keep their study-provided Fitbit device to help maintain their healthcare improvement journey, and will have a personal Certified Diabetes Educator to consult and assist with managing their diabetes diagnosis.

Diabetes, and in particular Type 2 Diabetes which accounts for roughly 90-95% of Diabetes patients, affects tens of millions of Americans. The state of South Carolina has one of the highest rates of diabetes patients affecting every 1 in 7 adults. In addition, diabetes patients have a very high risk of developing further complications like chronic kidney disease or cardiovascular disease, which besides further threatening the lives of these patients, is very expensive to manage and treat. South Carolina also has one of the highest population growth percentage rate across the US, but the growth of the healthcare workforce particularly in the rural areas of the state is not able to keep up. To help mitigate this, the SC Department of Health and Human Services has developed a "Rural Health Initiative" to better meet underserved communities' medical needs. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System and Guardian Research Network have been funded by SCDHHS to serve the first study in this Initiative targeting Type 2 Diabetes (T2D). This study aims to collect multiple types of data from SC Medicaid-enrolled type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients and healthy patients, including data from biospecimens, questionnaires, cognitive "brain" games, clinical assessments, electronic health records, wearable devices and lifestyle/behavioral data to identify elements that may be related to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) diagnosis or T2D progression. The primary goal is for researchers and physicians to analyze the multi-dimensional data to significantly improve the prediction of and strategies to prevent disease progression in T2D patients. Patients between ages 40 to 70 diagnosed with T2D and enrolled in SC Medicaid may be eligible, as well as a smaller healthy (control) cohort also enrolled in SC Medicaid. Patients will be asked to provide a blood, saliva and stool sample, answer questionnaires, complete online cognitive assessments ("brain games"), and wear a study-provided Fitbit device. Type 2 Diabetes participants will also have access to a Certified Diabetes Educator to assist with disease management and potential suggested lifestyle changes to help improve health.