Faculty of Nursing, Medical/Surgical Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Medical Department Rabigh General Hospital, Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2024 Sep 18;19(9):e0305845. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0305845. eCollection 2024.
To assess the effect of an instructional WhatsApp group on self-care and HbA1c levels among female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
T2DM is a chronic disease that requires effective self-care. WhatsApp is a free application that can be effectively used for patient education.
This study used a quasi-experimental design.
A convenience sample of 62 female participants was recruited from the medical outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital. The Diabetes Self-Care Scale was used to assess the self-care profiles of the participants pre- and post-intervention. HbA1c samples were also collected at baseline and three months after receiving instructions from the WhatsApp group. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected during the pre-intervention stage.
The mean HbA1c level decreased from 8.61 ± 1.70 to 7.92 ± 1.60 after implementing the WhatsApp group instructions; the values showed a significant difference (t-value = 5.107 and P-value < 0.001). The post-test mean score of total self-care was higher than the pre-test mean score (t-value = 12.359, P-value <0.001), indicating a highly significant difference.
The study demonstrated that the instructional WhatsApp group is an effective method for improving self-care and HbA1c levels in patients with T2DM. This study suggests the use of WhatsApp group instructions as a teaching method in the healthcare system for the education and follow-up of patients with T2DM.
The findings support the need to initiate effective and dynamic interventional follow-ups through WhatsApp groups for patients with T2DM to improve their self-care and HbA1c levels and ultimately reduce the burden on hospitals and governments.
评估在 2 型糖尿病女性患者中使用 WhatsApp 群组进行指导对自我护理和 HbA1c 水平的影响。
2 型糖尿病是一种需要有效自我护理的慢性疾病。WhatsApp 是一种免费应用程序，可有效用于患者教育。
本研究采用了准实验设计。
从一家三级医院的门诊诊所招募了 62 名女性参与者的便利样本。使用糖尿病自我护理量表评估参与者在干预前后的自我护理概况。还在基线和接受 WhatsApp 群组指导后三个月收集 HbA1c 样本。在干预前阶段收集社会人口统计学和临床数据。
实施 WhatsApp 群组指导后，HbA1c 水平从 8.61 ± 1.70 降至 7.92 ± 1.60；数值差异具有统计学意义（t 值=5.107，P 值<0.001）。总自我护理的后测平均得分高于前测平均得分（t 值=12.359，P 值<0.001），表明差异非常显著。
研究表明，指导 WhatsApp 群组是提高 2 型糖尿病患者自我护理和 HbA1c 水平的有效方法。本研究建议在医疗保健系统中使用 WhatsApp 群组指导作为一种教学方法，用于教育和随访 2 型糖尿病患者。
研究结果支持通过 WhatsApp 群组为 2 型糖尿病患者启动有效和动态的干预性随访的必要性，以改善他们的自我护理和 HbA1c 水平，最终减轻医院和政府的负担。
