The impact of Multimedia Software Support on the Knowledge and Self-Care Behaviors of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: Education is the most effective and economical part of diabetes treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a training program with multimedia software on the knowledge and self-care behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This study was a randomized controlled clinical trial in which 60 patients referred to diabetes clinic at Arak city were divided randomly into experimental (n=30) and control (n=30) groups. The instruments for collecting data were "Summary of Diabetes self-care activities questionnaire" and "knowledge of self-care in patients with diabetes". Data were collected before and 2 months after the intervention in the both groups. Educational program with equal content was applied for both experimental group (self-care program with multimedia software support) & control group (lecture and presentation with PowerPoint). Data analysis was done using SPSS Ver.13. Results: Implementation of the self-care program with multimedia software support resulted in improvements in patients’ self-care behaviors in the experimental group, whereas these behaviors had not significant changes in the control group after eight weeks. There was a significant difference in the mean score of knowledge in both the experiment and control groups before and after the intervention. Conclusion: Considering beneficial effects of training program with multimedia software support on the knowledge and self-care behaviors and the importance of this issue, suggested that the patients preferably provide terms of use of educational software for themselves.