Use of Computers to Prevent Metabolic Syndrome

The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity has a direct correlation with increasing prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, type2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), Metabolic Syndrome (MetS), and Cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Most of the previous studies in India have been cross sectional nature and have looked at prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS. Despite the clinical and public health importance of this phenomenon, not enough work has been carried out so far to study and remedy this situation. A computer based interactive and bilingual system is proposed to improve Metabolic syndrome related knowledge, attitudes and practices among individuals living in urban, rural and slum settings of Bhubaneswar, India. We propose to enroll 750 individuals and the eligible study participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention (computer based MetS Program CBMP) or control (Printed Educational Material, PEM) groups. The study participants will be followed at days 30, 60 and 90 days following the baseline visit. The primary outcomes include change in knowledge, attitudes and practices and secondary outcomes include improvement in quality of life and increase satisfaction to medical care.