Abstract Background Data suggest that patients’ knowledge about their chronic disease is associated with treatment adherence, and education may help improve disease outcomes. The effectiveness of educational activities depends on the source of the information. Our study aimed to compare the effectiveness of targeted educational activities in written and podcast formats for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods In this nationwide randomized controlled trial, IBD patients were enrolled between December 2023 and May 2024. At baseline, enrolled patients completed an online questionnaire assessing general knowledge of their disease (Inflammatory Bowel Disease Knowledge [IBD-KNOW]) and health-related quality of life (Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire [SIBDQ] and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]). Patients were randomized (1:1) into a control and an intervention group and the latter received targeted telemedical educational material, either in podcast format or as a written version, covering topics on anatomy, medical and surgical therapy, quality of life, epidemiology, diet/lifestyle, reproduction, and vaccination. This content was developed by IBD experts. Two months after the educational material was distributed, intervention group was re-tested, and satisfaction was measured. Descriptive statistics, Welch’s test, and Fisher’s exact test were used, with p-values <0.05 considered significant. Results A total of 221 patients were recruited, among whom 129 (58%) had Crohn’s disease (median age was 42 years [IQR 34-49], and median disease duration was 10 years [IQR 4-19], Table 1). Higher baseline IBD-KNOW scores were associated with longer disease duration (95% CI for B: 0.08-0.22, p < 0.001) and lower PHQ-9 scores (95% CI for B: 0.23-0.001, p = 0.052). Of the 221 patients, 95 were randomized into the intervention group to receive educational content, with 46/95 receiving the written version and 49/95 the podcast. Baseline characteristics and overall IBD-KNOW scores did not differ significantly between groups, except for a clinically irrelevant age discrepancy. After the educational intervention, the intervention group had higher overall IBD-KNOW scores compared to the control group (26.7 vs. 23.7, p < 0.001), while the format of the educational activity or quality of life had no significant impact on scores (Figure 1). Patient satisfaction was high (mean score of 8 ± 1.98) and was not influenced by the format of the educational content. Conclusion Telemedical education may enhance disease knowledge among IBD patients, with both forms of educational materials proving equally effective. Although no clear predictors of educational efficacy were identified, disease duration was associated with higher baseline knowledge.
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