Buddy Study: Partners for better health in adolescents with type 2 diabetes

Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics and case descriptions of adolescents with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Buddy Study

ID	Age (yr)	Diabetes duration (mo)	Sex	Ethnicity/race	Medications(hypoglycemic agents)	BMI (kg/m2)	T2DMfamily history	Complications, comorbidities	Case description
1	14	22	Male	Non-hispanic black	Metformin, insulin	24.1	Yes	None	Control group. Poor medication and dietary compliance. Frequently consumed sugar-sweetened beverages and sneaked food late at night. Mother attributed behavior to depression and stress from a recent custody battle. Significant behavioral issues in school
2	19	42	Female	Non-hispanic white	Metformin	39.5	Yes	Pre-hypertension	Buddy group. Fairly compliant with oral medications but noncompliant with insulin administration or blood glucose monitoring. Improved dietary habits but not exercise
3	18	48	Male	Non-hispanic black	Metformin	39.5	Yes	Cataract	Control group. History of anorexia. Complicated relationship with food. Has developmental delay and is in special education classes at school. Motivated to change lifestyle. Poor compliance with medication and glucose monitoring
4	14	11	Female	Non-hispanic black	Metformin	42.9	Yes	Hypertension	Buddy group. Poor compliance with medication. Skipped breakfast and lunch. Snacked excessively after school and in the evening. Mother had limited ability to supervise because she was not often home
5	13	5	Female	Non-hispanic black	Metformin	71.5	Yes	Microalbuminuria	Control group. First seen in clinic for obesity at age 6, then lost to follow-up for 7 yr prior to entering study. Gained 109.4 kg during this period. Discontinued sodas and juices and signed up for an exercise class, however, was subsequently lost to follow-up
6	14	13	Female	Hispanic	Metformin	34.2	Yes	None	Buddy group. Unmotivated to initiate behavior change and non-compliant with medication and blood glucose monitoring. Unresponsive to communication attempts by assigned buddy. Did not report any exercise. No attempt to alter dietary habits. Lost to follow-up
7	16	3	Male	Asian/pacific islander	Metformin	32.7	Yes	None	Control group. Very motivated and successful at lifestyle modification. Reverted to poor diet and exercise following family emergency. Medications subsequently re-initiated but compliance remained poor
8	17	60	Female	Asian/pacific islander	Metformin, Insulin	24.7	Yes	None	Buddy group. Poor medication compliance. No exercise despite parental encouragement. Removed sugar-sweetened beverages from diet but struggled with portion control. Improved compliance with medication regimen following hospitalization
9	17	11	Male	Non-hispanic black	Metformin, Insulin	34.3	Yes	Microalbuminuria hypertension	Buddy group. Compliant with medication but not glucose monitoring or diet. Mother encouraged portion control with little success. Patient had developmental delay but appeared to understand importance of lifestyle modification and was motivated. However, lost to follow-up
10	16	6	Male	Non-hispanic black	Metformin, Insulin	26.8	No	None	Control group. Poor compliance with medication and blood glucose monitoring. Lost to follow-up
n = 10	15.8 ± 2.0	22.1 ± 20.4	50% F	60% Non-hispanic black	100% metformin 40% insulin	37.0 ± 13.7	90% yes	50% yes

BMI: Body mass index; T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus.