Health Belief Model-Based Education through Telegram Instant Messaging Services on Diabetic Self-Care

Aims: Today, Mobile Health interventions as a group of Electronic Health interventions used to provide health information and improve health outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Health Belief Model-based (HBM) education on self-care in diabetic patient via Telegram, among participants. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was done from Jun 2016 to September 2017 in the health centers of Tabriz. Out of 20 health complexes in Tabriz, randomized (stepwise sampling) 5 complex selected. Then from each complex, 2 health center was selected randomly. With randomly sampling method, 68 patients with diabetes were selected (34 participants in the intervention group and 34 participants in the control group). In intervention group, educational text messages based on HBM was sent via Telegram during one month regularly. Three months later, both Intervention and control group completed researcher-made questionnaires by self-report. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test, paired t-test, Pearson’s test and SPSS 19 software. Findings: There was no significant difference in several demographic characteristics between two groups. Comparison of the mean difference of knowledge and in HBM constructs before of intervention in the groups showed no significant difference (p>0.05). There was a significant mean difference in the HBM constructs between two groups after intervention (p<0.05). There were significant correlations between the HBM constructs (p<0.05). Conclusion: Educational messages improve the perception constructs of HBM constructs for adopting self-care behaviors.