Starting in 2001, the Look AHEAD study randomized 5145 patients with type 2 diabetes to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) focused on weight loss versus a control group receiving diabetes education (Diabetes Support and Education).The Look AHEAD study tested whether participants with type 2 diabetes assigned to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) for weight loss exhibited reductions in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, relative to a control group receiving usual care and diabetes support and education. During the 12-year intervention period, the ILI led to persistent reductions in weight, waist circumference, and hemoglobin A1c and improvements in physical fitness, among other clinical benefits. After the conclusion of the intervention in 2012, participants were consented to be linked with administrative data. The investigators attempted to link 3188 consenting participants with Social Security Administration databases. Of these, the investigators were able to successfully link 3093 participants. In this study, the investigators will compare participation in federal disability insurance programs including Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and disability-related Supplemental Security Income (SSI) between the linked ILI and the control group during and after the intervention period (2001-2017). The investigators will investigate ILI-versus-control differences in whether participants ever applied or received benefits from SSDI and SSI. The investigators will also investigate ILI-versus-control differences in applications and benefit receipt in each year after randomization, relative to a pre-randomization assessment period. The investigators will use both multivariate regression controlling for baseline participant characteristics and clinic site and also survival analyses that estimate whether the time until SSDI or SSI application or benefit receipt differs between the ILI and control groups.
Starting in 2001, the Look AHEAD study randomized patients with type 2 diabetes to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) focused on weight loss versus a control group receiving diabetes education (Diabetes Support and Education). The ILI successfully reduced weight, improved diabetes control, and functional status, among other outcomes. In this study, the investigators will compare participation in federal disability insurance programs between the ILI and the control group during and after the intervention period (2001-2017).