Purpose: Appropriate initial education for type-l diabetes mellitus patients is important to prevent late complications. However, type-l diabetic children have not appreciated tra- ditional learning methods since they rarely contain the ele-ments of fun and interactivity. In this study, we developed, implemented and evaluated a preliminary version of edutainment tools for initial education for type-l diabetic children.

Methods: Three games running on either personal computer( PC) and GameBoy Advance^™ were developed. All games were designed to educate patients about relationships among food (carbohydrate), plasma glucose level, exercise, and insulin dose. A total of 58 testers evaluated degree of entertainment, usability and clinical usefulness of the games.

Results: Generally, testers felt all games were intuitive and tes education which they find boring and lacking in intera ction. fun and the usability of games was highly scored. More than 90% of testers showed an interest in the edutainment approach, and approximately 60% agreed that these games could provide attractive educational environment compared to traditional education, especially for children. between users and edutainment systems have been recognized

Conclusions: Our edutainment systems were accepted as attractive learning tools for type-l diabetic children who need initial education.