Computer-Assisted Food Labeling Education for Adults with Non-Insulin- Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

This study was designed to determine the merit of computer-assisted food labeling education for adults with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The study included both the development and evaluation of a tutorial computer lesson designed to provide education on the Nutrition Facts food label. The independent variables in this study included gender, age, education, duration of diabetes, computer experience, and characteristics related to food shopping and selection. The dependent variable was knowledge as measured by changes from pretest to posttest. Subjects were recruited from five U.S. Air Force outpatient medical clinics. Fifty one participants completed the study. Each participant was given a written questionnaire designed to collect information about them, their computer experience and characteristics related to food shopping and selection. They also completed a food label knowledge pretest. Once finished with the written portion, each participant completed the 'Nutrition Facts' computer lesson, and finally completed a knowledge posttest. Fifty seven percent of the subjects were male. Ages ranged from 25 to 76 with a mean age of 55.5 and a SD of 10.7 years. Forty three percent had a high school education with another 51% having completed further education after high school. Duration of diabetes ranged from one month to 25 years, with a mean duration of 4.5 and a SD of 6.3 years. Approximately half of the participants could be classified as computer users, with 47% using a computer daily or weekly, and 53% ratingAir Force Inst of Tech Wright-Patterson AFB OH is the author of 'Computer-Assisted Food Labeling Education for Adults with Non-Insulin- Dependent Diabetes Mellitus', published 1996 under ISBN 9781423576655 and ISBN 1423576659.