OBJECTIVES: To compare the effectiveness of group (GE) and individual (IE) health education in type-2 diabetes patients, and identify the improvement in knowledge, metabolic control and risk factors. DESIGN: Randomised clinical trial. SETTING: Primary care. PARTICIPANTS: 68 patients with type-2 diabetes, diagnosed 6 months before the start of the study and who had not received GE. Patients aged over 75, those with sensory, psychological and/or physical deficiencies and those not monitored in primary care were excluded (alpha 0.05; beta 0.2). INTERVENTIONS: Patients were selected according to the inclusion criteria and allocated at random to the IE (n = 33) or GE (n = 35) group. Individual and group lessons were given at the same time for a year. The contents were evaluated with a validated, self-administered test. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: General, demographic variables, analyses, blood pressure, the Body Mass Index (BMI), the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, diabetes-related complications and therapeutic variables were all measured. RESULTS: The two kinds of education showed no significant differences from each other. The two groups improved the level of knowledge (p < 0.001), and reduced HbA1c (p < 0.001), HDL-C (p < 0.001), the BMI (p = 0.001) and systolic pressure (p = 0.004), and increased their use of reactive strips (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Health education on diabetes improved knowledge of the disease, metabolic control and cardiovascular risk factors. The two educational methods evaluated were equally effective.

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