The impact of educational camp on glycemic control of Rwandan type 1 diabetes youth

In Rwanda, the prevalence of known type 1 diabetes mellitus in seven  districts of the country is 16.4 per 100,000 in young adults under 25 years old. The objective of this study was to compare the glycemic control of type 1 diabetes youth before and after the diabetes camp in Rwanda. A quasi experimental design using a longitudinal approach to compare the glycemic control before and after camp was used; 97 type 1 diabetes youth of both sexes, average age of 21 years were assigned into 8 groups and every group attended 5 days of diabetes education at the camp. Medical records about glycated hemoglobin levels before and 3 months after the camp were extracted from the database of Rwanda Diabetes Association and were analyzed to identify the impact of the educational camp. The mean  difference between the glycemic control before and 3 months after the camp revealed a statistically  significant decrease of 2.1% HbA1c (P-value = 0.02). As conclusion, this study found that diabetes educational camp is an effective strategy to improve Rwandan type 1 diabetes youth’s glycemic control. ________________________________________________________________________Key words: Rwanda, type 1 diabetes, youth, camp, glycemic contro

A qualitative study of users’ experiences after 3 months: the first Rwandan diabetes self-management Smartphone application “Kir’App”

Background: Owing to the increasing popularity of smartphones in Rwanda, almost 75% of the entire population currently has access to the internet. Although it has been shown that smartphone applications can support diabetes self-management, there was no diabetes selfmanagement application available in Rwanda until April 2019. Based on the findings of a prior study assessing the needs and expectations of potential users, ‘Kir’App’ was developed to fill that void. The aim of this study was to evaluate users’ experiences after 3 months of use of the first Kir’App prototype. Methods: The participants of the previous study were recruited to take part in the current study. Semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted. Findings were analysed thematically using Mayring’s method of qualitative content analysis. Both deductive and inductive approaches were used to analyse transcripts according to the original categories and subcategories of the previous study. Results: A total of 14 people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes participated in the study. Age of participants ranged from 19 to 70 years, with a mean age of 34.4 years. Seven of the eight original themes and one additional theme were subjoined: diabetes education and desired information provision; increased diabetes knowledge and awareness; monitoring and reminder functions; nutrition; physical activity; coping with burden of disease; app features; use behaviour and usability. Overall, participants stated that the app increased their diabetes knowledge and assisted them with their diabetes self-management. Conclusions: We found that the first prototype of Kir’App meets the overall needs and expectations of participating Rwandan diabetics. Having followed a strict user-centred design process, their qualitative insights will help to further improve the app