Effectiveness of a web-based program on self-care behaviors and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes: Study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) decreases the life expectancy and quality of life of diabetics and causes economic and societal problems. For this purpose, diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) has been designed for many years, which is recently provided through technology-assisted education. Therefore, we developed a web-based program in accordance with DSMES to assess its effect on self-care behaviors and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) for patients with T2DM during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which is described in detail in this paper. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) was performed on 70 diabetic patients in Al-Zahra Hospital for three months. After random allocation, web-based educational content (including videos, lectures, educational motion graphics, text files, educational posters, and podcasts) according to DSMES was provided for the intervention group to improve self-care behaviors and HbA1c levels. The control group received routine educational pamphlets. A diabetes self-management questionnaire (21 questions) with a Likert scale was completed to assess self-care behaviors scores before and after intervention and three months later. Also, HbA1c was determined before and after the intervention. Analysis of variance with repeated measurements will be applied to compare mean scores of self-care behaviors components three times, and an independent t-test analyzed mean differences of HbA1c values. CONCLUSION: The obtained results of this study might be useful for promoting self-care behaviors and assessing HbA1c in diabetic patients.