OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-efficacy-enhancing intervention (SEEI) on perceived self-efficacy and actual adherence to healthy behaviours among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). METHODS: This comparative pre-post study was conducted at the Antenatal Clinic of the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, between October 2016 and January 2017. A total of 90 adult Omani women with GDM were randomised to either a control group receiving standard prenatal care or a SEEI group. The SEEI group received an additional health education session and biweekly text messages to encourage adherence to healthy behaviours. All participants completed self-reported standardised questionnaires to determine perceived self-efficacy and actual adherence at baseline and after four weeks. RESULTS: At baseline, there were no significant differences between the control and SEEI groups in mean scores for perceived self-efficacy (122.9 +/- 19.9 versus 118.2 +/- 19.5; p = 0.26) or actual adherence to healthy behaviours (3.1 +/- 1.2 versus 3.2 +/- 1.0; p = 0.23). However, after four weeks, there was a significant positive difference between the SEEI and control groups in terms of pre-post change in scores for both perceived self-efficacy (9.9 +/- 19.6 versus -1.8 +/- 17.6; p < 0.05) and actual adherence to healthy behaviours (1.5 +/- 1.1 versus 0.4 +/- 0.8; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The SEEI was found to significantly improve perceived self-efficacy and actual adherence to healthy behaviours among a group of Omani women with GDM.

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