Effect of Multimedia Education on Eye Care Performance and Perception of the Disease in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Referred to Birjand Diabetic Clinic

Introduction and purpose: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of blindness in adult diabetic patients. Therefore, it is necessary to provide patients with appropriate training programs, such as multimedia education as a new and effective method to enhance their understanding of self-care. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of multimedia education on disease perception and eye care performance in type 2 diabetic patients  referring to Birjand Diabetes Clinic in 2019. Methods: This controlled clinical trial included 70 patients who were divided into two groups according to the inclusion criteria.The intervention group received 4 multimedia educational sessions (one session per week). The relevant parameters were measured before and after the intervention . Moreover, the data were analyzed in SPSS  software (vesrion18).    Results: The results of this study showed a significant difference before and after the intervention in the case group in terms of the mean score of eye care performance (P=0.005). Moreover,  a significant difference was observed  before and after the study regarding the mean diastolic pressure in the case group (P=0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups before and after the intervention in terms of the mean score of perception of disease (P=0.35), blood glucose changes (P=0.13), hemoglobin A1c (P=0.86), and systolic blood pressure (P=0.89). Conclusion: In this study, the implementation of multimedia method improved the performance of eye care in diabetic patients. Therefore, it is recommended to use this educational method to improve self-care in type 2 diabetic patients.