Utility and Acceptability of a Brief Type 2 Diabetes Visual Animation: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study

Visualizations of illness and treatment processes are promising interventions for changing unhelpful perceptions and improving health outcomes. However, these are yet to be tested in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

This study assesses the cross-cultural acceptability and potential effectiveness of a brief visual animation of T2DM at changing unhelpful illness and treatment perceptions and self-efficacy among patients and family members in 2 countries, New Zealand and Saudi Arabia. Health care professionals' views on visualization are also explored.

A total of 52 participants (n=39, 75% patients and family members and n=13, 25% health care professionals) were shown a 7-minute T2DM visual animation. Patients and family members completed a questionnaire on illness and treatment perceptions and self-efficacy before and immediately after the intervention and completed semistructured interviews. Health care professionals completed written open-ended questions. Means and 95% CIs are reported to estimate potential effectiveness. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted on qualitative data.

All participants rated the visual animation as acceptable and engaging. Four main themes were identified: animation-related factors, impact of the animation, animation as an effective format for delivering information, and management-related factors. Effect sizes (ranged from 0.10 to 0.56) suggested potential effectiveness for changing illness and treatment perceptions and self-efficacy among patients and family members.

Visualizations are acceptable and may improve the perceptions of patients' with diabetes in a short time frame. This brief visual animation has the potential to improve current T2DM education. A subsequent randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects on illness and treatment perceptions, adherence, glycemic control, and unplanned hospital admission is being prepared.