| This study was designed to develop a computer-aided learning program in diabetes for health care professional teams. The purposes of this research were to compare diabetes knowledge scores between control group and experimental group by implementing the computer-aided learning program and conducting a comparative analysis of post-test scores on diabetes knowledge among different professional groups including doctors, pharmacists and nurses. The study also explores the experimental group’s attitudes about using the program.
The program was developed via software called “Flash version 8”. The contents of the program contained information about diabetes disease as referred in the 2006 Guideline by American Diabetes Association (ADA). The program demonstrated the techniques of insulin injection via video clip, government health insurance in Thailand, assessments, and case studies.
Samples were health care professionals in Ubon Ratchathani province, consisting of 39 doctors, 46 pharmacists and 69 nurses. Samples were randomly assigned into experimental and control group. Data were collected from October 2007 to January 2008. The results showed that post-test scores on diabetes knowledge of experimental group increased significantly from their pre-test scores (p<0.001), but there was no significant difference in control group (p=0.182).
The comparative data analysis of post-test knowledge scores among different professionals indicates significant difference between doctors and nurses (p=0.04), significant difference between pharmacists and nurses (p<0.001), and no significant difference between pharmacist and doctor (p=0.55).
The scores on satisfaction of using the program were evaluated in three aspects= (1) the contents of program; (2) quality of presentation; and (3) advantage of the computer program. The experimental group were 85 % satisfied with the overall use of the program.
It can be concluded that this computer-aided learning program in diabetes improved Ubon Ratchathani professional groups’ knowledge about diabetes and increased their satisfaction of the program. |