The effects of mobile text messages on raising knowledge of men with type 2 diabetes, Isfahan, 2015: an educational experimental study

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic disorders which are rapidly increasing. Distance training is a cost-effective, easy and accessible way in which time and place dimensions of communication are removed. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of mobile text messages on raising knowledge of men with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This educational experiment recruited 76 people selected by convenient sampling from a population of male patients with type 2 diabetes presenting to Sedigheh Tahereh Research Center in Isfahan, Iran, in 2015. They were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. Data were collected with a questionnaire of demographic characteristics and questions pertaining to the variable of knowledge, through interview. The intervention group received training and follow-up through cell phones and text messages for 12 weeks. Data were analyzed in IBM-SPSS version 20 using Mann-Whitney test, Chi-square, Independent-samples t-test and paired-samples t-test. RESULTS: Findings suggested that patients’ knowledge in both groups significantly increased after the training (p<0.001). However, this rise in the intervention group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results indicated that designing and implementing educational programs based on text messages and cell phones can improve knowledge in diabetics.