Evaluation of the Effect of an Educational Diabetes Videotape

We prospectively evaluated the effect of an educational videotape on diabetes produced by the Japan Diabetes Foundation in 11 courses provided by health centers and/or local administrations in the Kanto eastern region of Japan. Some 281 participants were devided into 2; one with a videotape player randomly allocated to either the videogroup or controls and one having no videotape player assigned to controls. The 138 videogroup participants were asked to watch the video at home. Baseline data, including the diabetes knowledge score, relative energy intake and HbA1C, were collected on the first day of the course. The diabetes knowledge score was assessed again on the last day of the course, and relative energy intake and HbA1C examined 2 months after the course. Of 198 subjects, 98 in the videogroup and 102 controls completed the second knowledge and energy intake assessment. The videogroup showed a significantly greater increase in the diabetes knowledge score than controls (+ 6.0 versus + 4.6, p = 0.031), but results in net change of relative energy intake and HbA1C did not differ statistically significantly.