CDC webinar explains DPRP evaluation reports and recognition requirements

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented a webinar on how organizations should read and interpret Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program (DPRP) evaluation reports, emphasizing submission timelines and the thresholds that determine recognition status. The presenter, who did not give a name on the record, said, "All CDC recognized organizations must make a data submission every 6 months to maintain recognition."

The webinar explained that after each six-month data submission an organization receives either a progress report (if no participants have concluded and are eligible for evaluation) or an evaluation report (if concluded participants are eligible). The presenter listed the standard sections of an evaluation report: an evaluation summary, sequence mapping, summary and recommendations, evaluation results, and concluded, ongoing and new participant summaries.

Why this matters: the evaluation report documents whether an organization meets DPRP standards that affect recognition status and eligibility for "full plus" or other recognition categories. The presenter walked through the specific rules that programs must meet to achieve and retain recognition, and showed example calculations from a sample report.

On thresholds and definitions, the presenter defined a "completer" as an eligible participant who attended at least eight sessions in months 1–6 and whose time from the cohort's first session to the participant's last session was at least nine full months. Requirement 5, the presenter said, requires that the evaluation cohort include at least five eligible participants whose cohorts began 12–18 months before the submission and that at least 30 percent of those be retained to completer status (the webinar example showed 35 completers, or 41 percent, meeting Requirement 5).

Requirement 6, the presenter explained, requires that at least 60 percent of completers meet one or more outcomes at program end: at least 5 percent weight loss; at least 4 percent weight loss plus an average of 150 minutes per week of physical activity; at least 4 percent weight loss with at least 17 sessions attended; or at least a 0.2 percentage-point reduction in baseline A1c. In the sample report used in the webinar, 65 percent of completers met Requirement 6. Requirement 7 requires that at least 35 percent of evaluated participants be eligible for the lifestyle change program based on a blood test indicating prediabetes or a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM); the example showed 63 percent meeting Requirement 7.

The presenter also described retention thresholds tied to "full plus" recognition: minimum retention of 50 percent at the beginning of month four, 40 percent at the beginning of month seven, and 30 percent at the beginning of month ten; the sample showed 100 percent, 93 percent and 88 percent at those checkpoints. The concluded-participant summary in the example listed cohort counts and exclusions (for example, 40 eligible concluded participants with five excluded, leaving 35 completers) and a breakdown by program month when noncompleters attended their last session.

For ongoing and new participants (cohorts that began 6–12 months prior, or within six months), the presenter said the reports show high-level summaries and counts rather than final outcomes because those participants' data are not yet ready for full evaluation. The participant characteristics report, the presenter said, presents demographics (age groups 18–44, 45–64, 65+), race and ethnicity (noting individuals may identify with multiple races so percentages may exceed 100), education, referral source, motivation for entering the program and payer source, with graphs shown by completer status.

Program coordinators and listed secondary contacts, the presenter noted, will receive an email when progress or evaluation reports are compiled and available in the DPRP portal. Requests for a call to review a report with a technical assistance representative can be made through the National DPP Customer Service Center. The presenter concluded by thanking participants for attending.