Effects of Online Diabetes Self-management Education on Knowledge Retention, BMI, and HbA1c in Newly Diagnosed Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

July 6, 2026 updated by: University of Primorska

Effects of Online Diabetes Self-management Education on Knowledge Retention, BMI, and HbA1c in Newly Diagnosed Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: a Quasi-experimental Study

Type 2 diabetes requires active self-management from the time of diagnosis, but participation in traditional face-to-face diabetes self-management education is often limited by access-related and personal barriers. Online education may provide a more flexible and accessible way to deliver structured diabetes education, particularly for newly diagnosed adults who need timely support in understanding and managing their condition.

This study evaluated the effects of online diabetes self-management education compared with traditional face-to-face education on diabetes knowledge retention, body mass index (BMI), and HbA1c in adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who were not receiving antidiabetic medication. A total of 123 participants were included: 49 participants received online diabetes self-management education, 52 participants received traditional face-to-face education, and 22 participants who declined education formed a non-randomized control group. Diabetes knowledge was assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at three-month follow-up, while BMI and HbA1c were measured at baseline and follow-up.

At three-month follow-up, both online and traditional education groups showed significantly greater diabetes knowledge compared with the control group. The online education group also showed better immediate post-intervention knowledge than the traditional education group. Both education groups had significant reductions in BMI from baseline to follow-up, while no significant short-term effect on HbA1c was observed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

123

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Slovenia
      • Koper, Slovenia
        • Primary Healthcare Center Koper, Diabetes Outpatient Clinic, Koper, Slovenia

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18 years or older.
  • Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus within the previous 1 month.
  • Ability to access and use information and communication technology devices (smartphone, computer, or tablet).
  • Proficiency in the language used for the educational intervention.
  • Ability and willingness to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy.
  • Current treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus with antidiabetic medication (oral agents, injectable medications, or insulin).
  • Previous participation in a diabetes self-management education program.
  • Presence of concomitant diseases or treatments that could affect blood glucose levels (e.g., cancer or corticosteroid treatment).
  • Visual impairment, cognitive impairment, literacy difficulties, or manual dexterity limitations that could interfere with participation.
  • Development of any exclusion criterion during the study period.
  • Deterioration in health status or occurrence of events that, in the opinion of the investigators, warranted discontinuation from the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Online Diabetes Self-Management Education
Behavioral: Online Diabetes Self-Management Education
Participants attended a 60-minute interactive online diabetes self-management education program delivered through a Moodle learning platform using H5P interactive content. The program consisted of five modules: Diabetes Treatment and Management, Recommendations for Healthy Eating with Diabetes, Physical Activity Recommendations, Diabetes Complications and Diabetic Foot, and Planning Lifestyle Modifications. The intervention was designed to improve diabetes-related knowledge and support self-management among adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Active Comparator: Traditional Face-to-Face Diabetes Self-Management Education
Behavioral: Traditional Face-to-Face Diabetes Self-Management Education
Participants attended a 60-minute face-to-face diabetes self-management education session conducted in small groups of 4-6 participants. The educational content covered diabetes treatment and management, healthy eating recommendations, physical activity recommendations, diabetes complications and diabetic foot care, and planning lifestyle modifications. The intervention was designed to improve diabetes-related knowledge and support self-management among adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
No Intervention: No Diabetes Self-Management Education (Control)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ24) Score
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 3 months after intervention.
Change in diabetes-related knowledge measured using the 24-item Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ24). Scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater diabetes knowledge.
Baseline, immediately post-intervention, and 3 months after intervention.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 months after intervention.
Change in body mass index (kg/m²) from baseline to follow-up.
Baseline and 3 months after intervention.
Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c)
Time Frame: Baseline and 3 months after intervention
Change in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels from baseline to follow-up.
Baseline and 3 months after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Primorska

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 14, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 26, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

June 26, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 19, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 25, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 6, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DSME-T2D-2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Anonymized individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this study will be shared if required by the journal in which the study is published. Available data include demographic characteristics, Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ24) scores, body mass index (BMI), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) measurements collected during the study.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be available following publication of the study.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data may be provided to qualified researchers upon reasonable request and in accordance with journal, ethical, and institutional data-sharing requirements.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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