This randomized controlled trial evaluated whether a culturally adapted web-based educational video module could improve diabetes-related knowledge, patient empowerment, and cardiometabolic outcomes among adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes managed in a primary care clinic in Malaysia. The primary aims were to assess changes in diabetes knowledge and empowerment; secondary aims included effects on HbA1C, blood pressure, fasting lipid profile, body mass index, and waist circumference.
The study was a single-centre, parallel-group randomized controlled trial conducted at a public primary care clinic in Malaysia. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the web-based video intervention plus monthly reminders or standard care alone. Outcomes were measured at baseline, three months, and six months.
A total of 232 adults with type 2 diabetes and poor glycaemic control were randomized (116 to the intervention and 116 to the control group). Mean age was 59 years. The sample had a slight male predominance (53.0%) and was ethnically diverse with 43.1% Malay. Obesity was common, present in 51.7% of participants. The trial population included adults with at least six months’ duration of type 2 diabetes.
The intervention comprised culturally adapted, multilingual educational videos addressing diabetes self-care, medication use, diet, physical activity, and prevention of complications. Delivery was web-based, and the intervention was supported by monthly follow-up reminders. The abstract reports these core components but does not provide granular details on video length, exact languages used, platform specifications, or metrics of engagement and adherence.
Primary outcomes specified were diabetes knowledge and empowerment. Secondary outcomes included HbA1C, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting lipid profile, body mass index, and waist circumference. Assessments occurred at baseline, three months, and six months. The abstract provides effect estimates for the primary outcomes and reports statistical significance for secondary cardiometabolic outcomes but does not include absolute values or mean changes for every secondary endpoint in the abstract text.
Compared with standard care, participants who received the web-based educational videos demonstrated statistically significant improvements in primary outcomes at both three and six months. The reported effect estimates were:
Both differences were significant with p < 0.001, indicating a robust effect of the intervention on the measured constructs of knowledge and empowerment in this trial cohort.
The intervention group also showed improvements in multiple secondary cardiometabolic measures compared with controls. The abstract reports statistically significant improvements in HbA1C, blood pressure, fasting lipid profile, body mass index, and waist circumference (p < 0.05). The abstract does not provide the exact magnitudes of change or mean values for each secondary endpoint in the main text provided here.
In a primary care setting serving adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, a culturally adapted, multilingual web-based educational video program with monthly reminders was associated with large improvements in diabetes knowledge and empowerment and with favorable changes in cardiometabolic risk factors over a six-month period. The authors suggest that such web-based education may serve as a scalable adjunct to standard diabetes care in primary care clinics.
These findings are relevant for primary care teams and health systems considering digital education strategies to support self-care, medication adherence, lifestyle modification, and risk factor control among patients with type 2 diabetes.
The abstract reports trial structure, sample size, participant demographics, intervention content domains, primary effect estimates, and statistical significance for secondary outcomes. However, several implementation and methodological details were not reported in the abstract text available here, including:
Readers should consult the full text for these operational and outcome details that are not reported in the abstract.
This randomized controlled trial in a Malaysian primary care clinic found that a culturally adapted, multilingual web-based educational video module with monthly reminders significantly improved diabetes knowledge and empowerment and was associated with improvements in HbA1C and other cardiometabolic risk factors at three and six months among adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes. The results support considering web-based educational videos as a scalable adjunct to standard diabetes care in primary care settings, while noting that implementation details and longer-term effects require review in the full article.