Author(s)

Hamzeh Mohammadi¹, Sina Valiee², Bijan Nouri³, Arezoo Fallahi⁴, Kambiz Zehni^2*

¹Student Research Committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
²Clinical Care Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
³Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
⁴Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.

Introduction and Objective: The increasing advances in technology and development of the Internet and telecommunications have provided great opportunities for the healthcare and distance education. The present study aimed to examine the impact of distance education (through virtual social networks) on the quality of life in type-1 diabetic patients referring to the diabetes clinic of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj. Materials and Methods: The present study was a clinical trial with a registration number of IRCT2017 092336362N1. In the spring of 2017, 80 patients were selected from type-1 diabetic patients, who referred to diabetes clinic of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, and they were randomly put into 35-patient experimental group, and the 45-patient control group. The quality of life questionnaire and the subjects’ demographic characteristics were collected before the research. In the studied group, training was completed for two months by creating a telegram channel. After two months, the questionnaires were re-completed in both groups. Results: Both intervention and control groups were similar in terms of numerical demographic variables such as age and educational status, and also in terms of variables such as the gender, marital status, family history, insurance, weight and height. Before the research, the mean score of quality of life in the intervention group was equal to 40.82, but it was 43.34 after the research. Despite the fact that this value was not statistically significant (p = 0.0638), the mean score of their quality of life increased. In the control group, there was not any significant difference between the quality of life scores before and after the intervention (p = 0.6147). Conclusion: Self-care distance education in diabetic patients could have a significant effect on the improved patient self-care and ultimately increase the mean score of patients’ quality of life. The use of social networks in providing this education could provide free education on a wide scale for a wide range of these patients, and on the other hand, it could reduce the educational inequalities and provide education for remote areas.

Quality of Life, Type 1 Diabetes, Self-Care Education, Self-Care, Social Networks

Mohammadi, H. , Valiee, S. , Nouri, B. , Fallahi, A. and Zehni, K. (2018) The Effect of Self-Care Education through Social Networks on the Patients’ Quality of Life with Type 1 Diabetes in Sanandaj City, Iran. Creative Education, 9, 322-332. doi: 10.4236/ce.2018.92022.