Investigating the effect of telemedicine on improving eating disorders of diabetic pregnant women

Introduction: Symptoms of eating disorders are one of the factors affecting public health, the prevalence of which is increasing during the last few decades(۱). Occurrence of this disorder during pregnancy is associated with complications such as abortion, intrauterine growth disorder, electrolyte disorders, premature birth, instrumental delivery, and cesarean section. All women with eating disorders in the postpartum period are also more vulnerable(۲). Telemedicine or remote medicine is defined as the provision of health services, medical advice, diagnosis and treatment of patients by health and medical personnel using remote communication technologies such as Bluetooth, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, email, etc(۳). Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of counseling through telemedicine on the improvement of eating disorders in pregnant women.Methodology: Data collection was done by searching Scopus, Science Direct, Magiran, Elsevier and Google Scholar and PubMed search engines. A total of ۱۸ articles were found, of which ۱۲ were analyzed.Result: The results of the analysis of the findings obtained in the reviewed studies showed that the amount of insulin injection needed in mothers of the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<۰.۰۵). On the other hand, the scores related to the dimensions of cognitive self-control were significantly lower in the intervention group. Also, the scores related to uncontrolled eating and emotional eating in the intervention group were significantly lower than the control group (P<۰.۰۵).Discussion and conclusion: Educating diabetic patients through telemedicine using researcher-designed software or in the form of software such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, etc. helps to increase blood sugar control and weight gain of diabetic mothers. Therefore, it is possible to help improve the maternal and fetal outcomes of diabetic pregnant women by designing attractive educational programs such as educational videos, PowerPoint and related animations through various mobile phone software.

Keywords:

diabetic , telemedicine , tele health care , eating disordes , pregnancy