Cultural Tailoring and Implementation Science for Cardiometabolic Interventions in Asian Americans: A Systematic Review.

The included studies used many different designs, outcomes, and intervention components, so the review could not draw firm overall conclusions. Many studies had small samples or were pilots, so their results may not apply to other patients. Risk of bias was assessed for five randomized trials but not for two pilot randomized studies, and the search may have missed relevant studies. Publication bias may mean studies with significant findings were more likely to be published. Cultural tailoring was described unevenly, and no study considered within-group variability, so it is unclear what made interventions work. Attrition varied from 1% to 27.1%, intervention length was not correlated with attrition (R = 0.07), and only two studies included participant incentives, so retention strategies are uncertain. No experimental cardiometabolic studies specifically targeting Vietnamese Americans were identified, so the findings cannot be applied to that subgroup.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Do not conclude that cultural tailoring reliably improves diabetes or blood pressure outcomes. Only three of nine studies found significant clinical changes, study designs and outcomes varied widely, and the review notes publication bias and small samples.