New-Onset Diabetes Educator to Educate Children and Their Caregivers About Diabetes at the Time of Diagnosis: Usability Study

BACKGROUND: Diabetes self-management education is essential at the time of diagnosis. We developed the New-Onset Diabetes Educator (NODE), an animation-based educational web application for type 1 diabetes mellitus patients. OBJECTIVE: Our hypothesis is that NODE is a feasible, effective and user-friendly intervention in improving diabetes self-management education delivery to child/caregiver-dyads at the time of diagnosis. METHODS: We used a pragmatic parallel randomized trial design. Dyads were recruited within 48 hours of diagnosis and randomized into a NODE-enhanced diabetes self-management education or a standard diabetes self-management education group. Dyads randomized in the NODE group received the intervention on an iPad before receiving the standard diabetes self-management education with a nurse educator. The Diabetes Knowledge Test 2 assessed disease-specific knowledge pre- and postintervention in both groups, and was compared using t tests. Usability of the NODE mobile health intervention was assessed in the NODE group. RESULTS: We recruited 16 dyads (mean child age 10.75, SD 3.44). Mean Diabetes Knowledge Test 2 scores were 14.25 (SD 4.17) and 18.13 (SD 2.17) pre- and postintervention in the NODE group, and 15.50 (SD 2.67) and 17.38 (SD 2.26) in the standard diabetes self-management education group. The effect size was medium (Δ=0.56). Usability ratings of NODE were excellent. CONCLUSIONS: NODE is a feasible mobile health strategy for type 1 diabetes education. It has the potential to be an effective and scalable tool to enhance diabetes self-management education at time of diagnosis, and consequently, could lead to improved long-term clinical outcomes for patients living with the disease.