Computer-assisted instruction for diabetics. An original project developed at the University of Liège, Belgium

An experiment conducted at the University of Liège, Belgium in the computer-assisted teaching of juvenile-type insulin-dependent diabetics is reported. The course was designed to individualize teaching in order to give a minimum of basic information to a maximum of patients. The original computer-assisted instruction system DOCEO II is described; methods and programming techniques are summarized. The course was evaluated on fifty patients who attended the first four lessons. The improvement in knowledge was impressive: scores corrected for guessing were 9.59 +/- 4.43 out of 20 before the course and 17.04 +/- 2.26 out of 20 after the course (paired t test: p less than 0.001). The system was enthusiastically accepted by the patients and is now routinely used in our Institution. Long-term studies are in progress to determine whether increased knowledge leads to better self-care, improved control and, ultimately, reduced incidence of diabetic complications.