A REVIEW OF WEB-ASSISTED INTERVENTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS

Today، the internet has been emerged as a potentially effective medium for information exchange and in recent years، the use of web-based training programs has been steadily considered in the prevention and management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. This technology provides an opportunity to make health care more accessible for a large number of people and reduce costs. This review provides a descriptive discussion of web-based behavioural interventions for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Systematic literature searches were performed using Medline، Embase، Psycinfo، Web of Science and Cochrane library to retrieve articles written in english and published between 2000 and 2012 which fulfilled all inclusion criteria. The search keywords were “diabetes” AND “intervention” AND (“internet OR web”). Only randomised controlled trials and quasi experimental studies were included in this review. A total of 15 studies were reviewed. Goal-setting، personalised coaching، interactive feedback and online peer support groups were some of the successful approaches which were applied in e-interventions to manage type 2 diabetes mellitus. Strong theoretical background، use of other technologies and longer duration of intervention were proven to be successful strategies as well. The web-based interventions have demonstrated some level of favourable outcomes، provided they are further enhanced with proper e-research strategies.