JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patients’ knowledge was found to be a key contributor to therapies’ success. Many efforts have been made to educate patients in their disease. However, research found that many patients still lack in their knowledge of their disease. Integrating patient education into social media platforms can bring materials closer to recipients.

Objective:

Testing the effectiveness of patient education via Instagram.

Methods:

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the objective in patients of inflammatory bowel disease. Participants were recruited online from an open Instagram page of a patient organization. The intervention group has been educated via Instagram for 5 weeks by the research team; the control group did not receive any educational intervention. The knowledge on their disease was measured pre- and post-interventional using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Knowledge (IBD-KNOW) questionnaire. Data was analyzed by mean comparison and regression analysis. The trial was purely web-based.

Results:

In total n=49 participants filled out both questionnaires. The intervention group included 25 and the control group 24 participants. The pre-interventional knowledge level of the intervention group was 18.67 of 24 points and was improved by 3 points to 21.67. The post-interventional difference between the control and intervention group was 3.59 points, statistically significant at a level of P<.001 (95% CI [1.98, 5.19]). Results of regression analysis, accounting for the pre-knowledge and group heterogeneity, indicate an increase of 3.33 points explained by the intervention (P<.001).

Conclusions:

Patient-education via Instagram is an effective way to increase disease-related knowledge. Future studies are needed to assess effects in other conditions and compare different means of patient education. Clinical Trial: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00022935 (registered retrospectively)