The effect of educational intervention using mobile phone on self-care behaviors in patients with thalassemia major

One way to improve the quality of life in patients with thalassemia major is empowering patients through self-care education to counter the effects and complications of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational intervention using mobile phone on self-care behaviors in patients with thalassemia major.
The study population of this interventional study were patients with thalassemia major who referred to Hazrat Abolfazl (AS) hospital in Minab in the province of Hormozgan. In this study, 46 patients were assigned in the intervention group and 45 patients in the control group. Educational program consisted of thalassemia disease introduction, complications and self-care behaviors for thalassemia disease that were made during the six calls and lasted for a month. Also educational pamphlets were given to the patients. Data were collected before and two months after education by a questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS software version 22.
Before the intervention, the mean scores of knowledge, attitude and self-care behaviors in the intervention and control groups were not significantly different. After the intervention a significant increase in mean scores of knowledge, attitude and self-care behaviors observed in the intervention group (p The results of this study indicated the positive effect of educational intervention through mobile phone on knowledge, attitude and improvement of self-care behaviors in patients with thalassemia major. Hence, mobile phone is recommended as a device for transmission of self-care educational materials to patients with thalassemia major, especially when access to them is limited.