Edutainment tools for initial education of type-1 diabetes mellitus: initial diabetes education with fun.
OBJECTIVE
Appropriate initial education for type-1 diabetes mellitus patients is important to prevent late complications. However, type-1 diabetic children have not appreciated traditional learning methods since they rarely contain the elements of fun and interactivity. In this study, we developed, implemented and evaluated a preliminary version of edutainment tools for initial education for type-1 diabetic children.


METHODS
Three games running on either personal computer (PC) and GameBoy Advance were developed. All games were designed to educate patients about relationships among food (carbohydrate), plasma glucose level, exercise, and insulin dose. A total of 58 testers evaluated degree of entertainment, usability and clinical usefulness of the games.


RESULTS
Generally, testers felt all games were intuitive and fun and the usability of games was highly scored. More than 90% of testers showed an interest in the edutainment approach, and approximately 60% agreed that these games could provide attractive educational environment compared to traditional education, especially for children.


CONCLUSIONS
Our edutainment systems were accepted as attractive learning tools for type-1 diabetic children who need initial education.
Aoki
Noriaki
N
School of Health Information Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center--Houston, USA. Noriaki.Aoki@uth.tmc.edu
Ohta
Sachiko
S
Masuda
Hiroyuki
H
Naito
Tokihiro
T
Sawai
Takahiro
T
Nishida
Kayo
K
Okada
Taisuke
T
Oishi
Mariko
M
Iwasawa
Yuko
Y
Toyomasu
Keiko
K
Hira
Kenji
K
Fukui
Tsuguya
T
D001786:Blood Glucose; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018910:Video Games
D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin