Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 4:14:270.
doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_2292_24. eCollection 2025.

Nurse-led social media-based education in diabetic patients: Effects on COVID-19 fear and self-care - A 6-month follow-up trial

Ali Sadeghian  1 , Azadeh Tataei  2 , Ramazan Fallah  3 , Mohammad Zirak  4
Affiliations

Nurse-led social media-based education in diabetic patients: Effects on COVID-19 fear and self-care - A 6-month follow-up trial

Ali Sadeghian et al. J Educ Health Promot. .

Abstract

Background: To evaluate the effect of nurse-led, social media-based patient education on COVID-19-associated fear and self-care in diabetic patients throughout a six-month follow-up period.

Materials and methods: A single-blind randomized controlled trial. A total of 113 diabetic patients were recruited using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 58) or control group (n = 55). Data were collected using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and the Self-Care in COVID-19 Scale (SCOVID) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at two- and six-month follow-ups. The intervention group received a four-week COVID-19-related patient education program via social media, while the control group only received routine care. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., USA).

Results: No significant differences in fear or self-care scores were observed between the groups at baseline (P > 0.05). However, the intervention group exhibited significant improvements in both fear and self-care scores at all post-intervention time points compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The reduction in fear scores was more pronounced between T1 (immediately after the intervention) and T2 (two months after the intervention), whereas it remained relatively stable between T2 and T3 (six months after the intervention). This indicated a sustained intervention effect over time.

Conclusion: Social media-based nurse-led education effectively reduces COVID-19-associated fear and improves self-care in diabetic patients, with benefits sustained for up to six months. This approach is recommended for accessible, scalable patient education during pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; diabetes; fear; patient education; self-care; social media.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Research flow diagram based on Consort 2010 statement
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in Estimated Marginal Means of Fear Scores Over Time in the Intervention and Control Groups
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in Estimated Marginal Means of Self-Care Scores Over Time in the Intervention and Control Groups
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Tavakoli A, Vahdat K, Keshavarz M. Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): An Emerging Infectious Disease in the 21st Century. Iran South Med J. 2020;22:432–50.
    1. Abdi M. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Iran: Actions and problems. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2020;41:754–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO . WHO; 2021. Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19-7 December 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/weekly-epidemiological-update-on... .
    1. Sadeghian A, Fallah R, Zirak M. The effect of patient education through social media on the COVID-19-related anxiety in patients with diabetes: A single-blind clinical trial. Avicenna J Nurs Midwifery Care. 2022;30:134–41.
    1. Zhang WR, Wang K, Yin L, Zhao W-f, Xue Q, Peng M, et al. Mental health and psychosocial problems of medical health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Psychother Psychosom. 2020;89:242–50. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources