MON-530 Diabetes Conditional Cash Transfer Intervention To Improve Glycemic Control

Abstract Disclosure: J.A. Campbell: None. R.J. Walker: None. L.E. Egede: None. Introduction and Objective: Poverty compounds burden of diabetes by structurally limiting access to resources for health insurance, preventive care, care management, and basic subsistence needs. Monetary interventions appear effective at improving diabetes clinical outcomes and may be important for optimizing health long-term, however, conditional cash transfer programs focused on providing monetary assistance to increase household income are understudied in their impact on health outcomes. The objective of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a conditional cash transfer intervention among inner-city African Americans with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes (HbA1c >=8%). Methods: 50 participants received conditional cash transfers of $500 per month for 6 months, conditional on attending a 60-minute diabetes education/skills training and stress/coping session every 2 weeks. Education sessions included 12 sessions of previously tested diabetes education and skills training plus cognitive behavioral stress management to support coping skills development and stress management. Each participant was followed for 6-months. Longitudinal mixed model with treatment, time, and treatment x time interactions were used to measure change in HbA1c from baseline. This preliminary analysis focused on one arm of a larger pilot study. Results: Mean age of participants was 54 years, with the sample consisting mostly of women (66%). Approximately 53% were never married, and 65% had a household income less than $20,000 annually. Statistically significant differences were found at both 3-months (-0.55 (-1.10, 0.002), p=0.05) and 6-months (-0.61 (-1.18, -0.04), p=0.04). Conclusion: These preliminary data provide evidence that conditional cash transfers can drop HbA1c, however, the pilot study had no control group and had a short follow-up. Future research is needed to compare conditional cash transfers to usual care and follow participants for 12-months to investigate sustainability of effect. Presentation: Monday, July 14, 2025