Study Objective: To identify the characteristics associated with patients who improved in glycemic control versus those who did not, in response to the ENGAGE-DM trial intervention.Methods: The ENGAGE-DM intervention consisted of a shared decision-making and brief negotiated interview session delivered over the telephone to improve glycemic control. This is a secondary analysis of variables from the pharmacist notes recorded during the interview and insurance claims data for the patients in the intervention group (n=155). Statistical analyses were used to test associations between the variables under study and glycemic control improvement. Descriptive analyses were conducted to compare positive and negative deviants, as well as key barriers and themes surrounding diabetes management.Findings: Patients that experienced substantial improvements in HbA1c were more likely to be male (p=0.008), be a part of a female pharmacist-male patient concordant pair (p=0.04), have a high baseline HbA1c value (p=0.00003), and report higher readiness to change their behavior (p=0.08). Barriers to successful diabetes management most frequently cited by patients were related to work commitments, comorbidities, and cost of medications and test supplies.Conclusions: This study demonstrated that important gender differences in diabetes management influence the extent to which women and men improve from an intervention. These findings emphasize the importance of stratifying analyses by gender to understand an intervention’s effect on improving or exacerbating underlying disparities.Bachelor of Science in Public Healt
