Evaluation of a mobile social networking application for improving diabetes Type 2 knowledge: an intervention study using WhatsApp
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the WhatsApp social networking application for improving knowledge, self-efficacy and awareness about diabetes management. Methodology: The study was conducted with intervention and control groups at Teaching Hospital in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The intervention group received weekly educational messages using WhatsApp, while the control group received regular care. Results: Statistically, compared with the control group, the diabetes knowledge and self-efficacy of the intervention group increased significantly after the intervention with the WhatsApp application. Conclusion: The WhatsApp application can be effectively used for enhancing diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy and awareness among the Saudi population.
Formats available
You can view the full content in the following formats:
References
Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest
1.
Alanzi TM, Istepanian RS, Philip N, Sungoor A. A study on perception of managing diabetes mellitus through social networking in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In: XIII Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing 2013 2014. Roa Romero L (Ed.). Springer, Cham, 1907–1910 (2014).
2.
International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes Atlas released on World Diabetes Day (5th Edition) (2015). http://www.diabetesatlas.org/.
3.
Alanzi T, Istepanian R, Philip N. Design and usability evaluation of social mobile diabetes management system in the Gulf region. JMIR Res. Protoc. 5(3), e93 (2016).
4.
International Diabetes Federation. Key findings 2014 (2016). http://www.idf.org/diabetesatlas/update-2014.
5.
Rehalia A, Prasad S. Global harnessing of advanced mHealth for community mobilization. mHealth 2, 7 (2016).
6.
Sherif S. Economic development and diabetes prevalence in MENA countries: Egypt and Saudi Arabia comparison. World J. Diabetes 6(2), 304 (2015).
7.
Majeed A, El-Sayed A, Khoja T, Alshamsan R, Millett C, Rawaf S. Diabetes in the Middle-East and North Africa: an update. Diabetes Res. Clin. Prac. 103(2), 218–222 (2014).
8.
Bahijri SM, Jambi HA, Al Raddadi RM, Ferns G, Tuomilehto J. The prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes in the adult population of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – a community-based survey. PLoS ONE 11(4), e0152559 (2016).
9.
AlQulaity M, Bajaber W. In: The Growth of E-commerce in Saudi Arabia and its Influence on Saudi women (1st Edition). GRIN Verlag, Germany (2015). https://books.google.com.sa/books/about/The_Growth_of_E_Commerce_in_Saudi_Arabia.html?id=V0iRDAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y&hl=en.
10.
Jamal A, Temsah M, Khan S et al. Mobile phone use among medical residents: a cross-sectional multicenter survey in Saudi Arabia. JMIR MHealth UHealth. 4(2), 61 (2016).
11.
WhatsApp: mobile usage penetration by country | Statista (2016). https://www.statista.com/statistics/291540/mobile-internet-user-whatsapp/.
12.
Kamel M, Giustini D, Wheeler S. Instagram and WhatsApp in health and healthcare: an overview. Future Internet 8(3), 37 (2016).
• Analyzes the use of WhatsApp as a healthcare tool.
13.
Saavedra J. Social networks as a means of monitoring patients with hypertension and diabetes success story. Int. J. Integr. Care. 15, 74–77 (2015).
• Analyzes the use of WhatsApp as a healthcare tool.
14.
Ekadinata N, Widyandana D. Health promotion using WhatsApp-based images and texts for voluntary primary health workers. Berita Kedokteran Masyarakat. 33(11), (2017) (Epub ahead of print).
• Analyzes the use of WhatsApp as a healthcare tool.
15.
Blackstock S, Solomon S, Kumar P. Using WhatsApp messaging to improve engagement of young adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Endocrine J. 39, (2015) (Epub ahead of print).
• Analyzes the use of WhatsApp as a healthcare tool.
16.
Griffiths F, Dobermann T, Cave J et al. The impact of online social networks on health and health systems: a scoping review and case studies. Policy Internet 7(4), 473–496 (2015).
17.
Welch V, Petkovic J, Simeon R. Interactive social media interventions for health behaviour change, health outcomes, and health equity in the adult population. Cochrane Public Health Group (2018). http://cochranelibrary-wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD012932/abstract;jsessionid=FAC457D64680DFE8EED3BF5869A56AEC.f04t03.
18.
Volppk K, Molita N. Social networks to improve patient health. Insights Report. NEJM Catalyst (2017). https://catalyst.nejm.org/.
19.
Istepanian RSH, Woodward B. mHealth: Fundamentals and Applications. Wiley – IEEE Press, NJ, USA (2016).
•• This is an interesting book about the applications of mHealth technologies.
20.
Kotsilieris T, Pavlaki A, Christopolou S, Anagnostopoulos I. The impact of social networks on healthcare. Social Network Analysis and Mining 7(1), 18 (2017).
21.
Limaye N, Saraogi A. How social media is Transforming Pharma and Healthcare. Applied. Clinical. Trials. 27(2), (2018).
22.
Welch V, Petkovic J, Pardo J et al. Interactive social media interventions to promote health equity: an overview of reviews. Health Promot. Chronic. Dis. Prev. Can. 36(4), 63–75 (2016).
23.
Istepanian R, Mousa A, Haddad N et al. The potential of m-health systems for diabetes management in post-conflict regions a case study from Iraq. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2014, 3650–3653 (2014).
•• This study describes the improving Hb1Ac levels with mHealth technologies.
24.
Mulvaney D, Woodward B, Datta S et al. Development of m-health monitoring systems in India and Iraq. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2012, 288–291 (2012).
25.
Haddad NS, Istepanian R, Philip N et al. A feasibility study of mobile phone text messaging to support education and management of Type 2 diabetes in Iraq. Diabetes Technol. Ther. 16(7), 454–459 (2014).
26.
Bijl J, Poelgeest-Eeltink A, Shortridge-Baggett L. The psychometric properties of the diabetes management self-efficacy scale for patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. J. Adv. Nurs. 30(2), 352–359 (1999).
27.
Holtz B, Lauckner C. Diabetes management via mobile phones: a systematic review. Telemed. J. E. Health 18(3), 175–184 (2012).
28.
WhatsApp. www.whatsapp.com/.
29.
Garcia A, Villagomez E, Brown S, Kouzekanani K, Hanis C. The Starr County Diabetes Education Study: development of the Spanish language diabetes knowledge questionnaire. Diabetes Care. 24(1), 21–22 (2001).
30.
Dehghan H, Charkazi A, Kouchaki G et al. General self-efficacy and diabetes management self-efficacy of diabetic patients referred to diabetes clinic of Aq Qala, North of Iran. J. Diabetes Metab. Disord. 16, 8 (2017).
31.
Tawalbeh L, Gharaibeh B. Diabetes knowledge among university nursing students in the North of Jordan. Pakistan J. Nutr. 13(12), 728–734 (2014).
•• This work presents an interesting analysis of the behavioral change model.
32.
Diabetes awareness. www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-awareness.html.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2018 Future Medicine Ltd.
History
Received: 2 April 2018
Accepted: 7 June 2018
Published online: 26 June 2018
Keywords:
Topics
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Article Usage
Article usage data only available from February 2023. Historical article usage data, showing the number of article downloads, is available upon request.
Citations
How to Cite
Evaluation of a mobile social networking application for improving diabetes Type 2 knowledge: an intervention study using WhatsApp. (2018) Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research. DOI: 10.2217/cer-2018-0028
Export citation
Select the citation format you wish to export for this article or chapter.
Citing Literature
- Anstan Saldanha, Anna Boggis, Anna Sofia Serlachius, Digital health interventions for improving mental health outcomes and wellbeing for adults with diabetes: A systematic review, Patient Education and Counseling, 10.1016/j.pec.2026.109659, 149, (109659), (2026).
- EunSeok Cha, Meihua Ji, Colleen Dawkins, Xiaoyan Qi, Hyesun Jang, Melissa Spezia Faulkner, Characteristics of behavior change techniques in theory-based self-management education and support interventions for adults with type 2 diabetes using digital technology: A scoping review, DIGITAL HEALTH, 10.1177/20552076261443759, 12, (2026).
- Shan Chen, Emma Mirza Wati Mohamad, Arina Anis Azlan, Xixi Zhao, Instant messaging-based digital health interventions for diabetes management: a domain-structured systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Frontiers in Public Health, 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1780625, 14, (2026).
- Hwee Wen Ong, Khairul Anwar Ayob, David Siew-Kit Choon, Virginia Hartono, Metabolic Optimisation in Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Single-Centre Retrospective Cohort Pilot Study on the Safety and Feasibility of a Digitally Supported Perioperative Diet Modification, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10.3390/jcm15051948, 15, 5, (1948), (2026).
- Ola Sukkarieh, Leonard Egede, Mona Osman, Maya Bassil, Myrna A. A. Doumit, Reimagined diabetic care approach: A qualitative study on the acceptability of mhealth interventions in a LMIC, PLOS One, 10.1371/journal.pone.0343711, 21, 2, (e0343711), (2026).
- Michelli Caroliny de Oliveira, Inara Pereira da Cunha, Karine Laura Cortellazzi, Gláucia Maria Bovi Ambrosano, Fernanda Dandara Marques Gomes de Morais, Luciane Miranda Guerra, Antonio Carlos Pereira, Jaqueline Vilela Bulgareli, Using social media application associated with active learning methodologies for adherence to dental treatment, Brazilian Journal of Oral Sciences, 10.20396/bjos.v24i00.8668221, 24, (e258221), (2025).
- Manoela Vieira Gomes da Costa, Renata Puppin Zandonadi, Verônica Cortez Ginani, Silvana Schwerz Funghetto, Luciano Ramos de Lima, Tania Cristina Morais Santa Barbara Rehem, Marina Morato Stival, Connecting Health and Technology: Validation of Instant Messaging for Use as Diabetes Mellitus Control Strategy in Older Brazilian Adults, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10.3390/ijerph22020282, 22, 2, (282), (2025).
- Ali Safdari, Nazi Nejat, Abdollah Abolfathi, Fatemeh Mehrabi, Fatemeh Rafiei, Effect of social media-based education on self-care status, health literacy, and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes, Frontiers in Public Health, 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1507726, 13, (2025).
- Fatemeh Abbasian, Mohammad Mehdi Naghizadeh, Leila Ahmadian, Effect of WhatsApp Messenger-based education on the knowledge of health ambassadors about home care for minor illnesses, BMC Health Services Research, 10.1186/s12913-024-11988-9, 24, 1, (2024).
- Pedro F. Castillo-Valdez, Marisela Rodriguez-Salvador, Yuh-Shan Ho, Research Landscape of Diabetes mHealth Technologies, Foresight and STI Governance, 10.17323/2500-2597.2024.1.19.32, 18, 1, (19-32), (2024).
- See more