Short Message Service as a Tool for Health Education in Families of Children with Type 1 Diabetes in Pakistan: A Randomized Control Trial

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the efficacy of short message service (SMS) for educating families of children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Study Design: Single-masked randomized control trial (IRCT: 54713). Place and Duration of Study: Tertiary care hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad Pakistan, from Mar to Jul 2021. Methodology: Twenty-nine T1D patients aged 1 to 18 years were randomly allotted to two groups: 15 to intervention or Group-A (receiving 5 SMS per week) and 14 to Control or Group-B (receiving disease education during hospital visits). Patients were followed up and their blood sugar levels (BSLs), HbA1c levels, journal maintenance, number of ER visits, number of Self-Monitored Blood Glucose (SMBG) levels, and hypoglycemic episodes compared at baseline and after intervention. Results: HbA1c had a mean decrease of 2.13±1.89% in Group-A and a mean increase of 0.18±0.84% in Group-B (p-value