Comparison of the Effect of Virtual Education and Group-Based Education on Anthropometric Indices in Overweight and Obese Healthcare Women - An Educational Intervention Study

BACKGROUND Obesity is the main cause or the facilitator of many physical and psychological diseases worldwide, specifically in developing countries including Iran.(1,2) It is estimated that worldwide about 3% of total health expenditure is spent annually on the treatment of obesity related disorders.(3) We wanted to compare the efficacy of two methods of education including virtual education through Telegram messages and group discussion, on anthropometric indices in health care service providers suffering from overweight or obesity in Kermanshah. METHODS This three-arm randomized control trail (RCT) was conducted on 102 overweight/obese female healthcare providers in Kermanshah. Using Excel RAND function, the eligible participants were randomly allocated into three groups; two intervention groups- Telegram message, and group discussion - and one control group. Anthropometric indices including height, weight, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were measured using standard instruments. Data was analysed with SPSS16 using Independent and Paired t-test, Chi-square, and ANOVA. The significance level was considered as p≤0.05. RESULTS Participants’ mean age was 41.9 ± 6.3 years. Mean of BMI was 29.8±3.8 Kg/m2. The mean of weight, BMI and HC of the three groups were not significantly different before intervention; however, the mean of the changes for all three variables in the intervention groups were significantly different (p<.001). CONCLUSIONS Telegram and group discussion were effective on anthropometric indices of healthcare providers; however, comparing the mean change of variables in two intervention groups showed that Telegram method was more effective than group discussion in Weight, BMI, WC, and HC reduction (p<0.05). KEY WORDS Anthropometric Indices, Health Education, Health Personnel, Obesity