NCT03421106: SuperShelf

A Multilevel Intervention in the Hunger Relief Network to Improve Diet Among Adults Experiencing Food Insecurity

Terminated NA Results posted Last updated 9 February 2023

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Intervention Food Pantries in Food Selection in 504 participants. Terminated before completion.

Timeline

5 February 2018

Primary endpoint
1 September 2019

16 November 2020

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of Connecticut
Phase	NA
Status	Terminated
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	none
Primary purpose	prevention
Enrollment	504
Start date	5 February 2018
Primary completion	1 September 2019
Estimated completion	16 November 2020
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Intervention Food Pantries
• Control Food Pantries

Conditions studied

• Food Selection — all drugs for Food Selection →

Sponsor

University of Connecticut

Who can join

Adults 18 to 99, any sex, with Food Selection. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Overall Diet Quality of Clients Primary · Baseline, 1 year

Assessed by Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores (scale 0-100), with 100 representing the best possible score (i.e., nutritional quality best aligned with Dietary Guidelines for Americans)

Group	Value	95% CI
Intervention Food Pantries and Clients	1.09	± 1.45
Control Food Pantries and Clients	-1.42	± 1.52

Nutritional Quality of Food Selected by Clients at the Food Pantry Secondary · 1 year post-sample comparison

Assessed by Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores (scale 0-100), with 100 representing the best possible score (i.e., nutritional quality best aligned with Dietary Guidelines for Americans)

Group	Value	95% CI
Intervention Food Pantries and Clients	60.6	± 11.8
Control Food Pantries and Clients	64.0	± 10

Cardiovascular Health Secondary · Baseline, 1 year

American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7) scores (scale 0 -7), with 7 representing the best possible score for cardiovascular health

Group	Value	95% CI
Intervention Food Pantries and Clients	-0.09	± 0.15
Control Food Pantries and Clients	0.41	± 0.16

Sponsor's own description

The investigator proposes an evaluation of a randomized, sustainable intervention in 8 intervention and 8 control pantries. We will enroll a sample clients at the food pantry at baseline and follow them for 1 year to assess changes in overall diet quality (the primary outcome) and cardiovascular health. We will also enroll a sample of clients at follow-up to assess to assess the nutritional quality of food selected at the pantry.

Publications & conference data

5 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. A randomized study of food pantry environment-level change following the SuperShelf intervention.
   Caspi C, Gordon N, Bliss Barsness C, Bohen L, et al · · 2022 · cited 14× · PMID 35666208 · DOI 10.1093/tbm/ibac003
2. Applying the Healthy Eating Index-2015 in a Sample of Choice-Based Minnesota Food Pantries to Test Associations Between Food Pantry Inventory, Client Food Selection, and Client Diet.
   Caspi CE, Davey C, Barsness CB, Wolfson J, et al · · 2021 · cited 8× · PMID 34103273 · DOI 10.1016/j.jand.2021.05.007
3. A Cluster-Randomized Evaluation of the SuperShelf Intervention in Choice-Based Food Pantries.
   Caspi CE, Gombi-Vaca MF, Barsness CB, Gordon N, et al · · 2024 · cited 6× · PMID 37857305 · DOI 10.1093/abm/kaad060
4. Effect of a Multicomponent Food Pantry Intervention in Client Subgroups.
   Jia J, Gombi-Vaca MF, Bliss Barsness C, Peterson H, et al · · 2024 · cited 1× · PMID 38542716 · DOI 10.3390/nu16060805
5. Qualitative perspectives on the implementation of an intervention transforming food pantry environments.
   Pratt R, Barsness CB, Gordon N, Canterbury M, et al · · 2026 · PMID 41501671 · DOI 10.1186/s12889-025-26036-2