Effectiveness of Active-Online, an Individually Tailored Physical Activity Intervention, in a Real-Life Setting: Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

BackgroundEffective interventions are needed to reduce the chronic disease epidemic. The Internet has the potential to provide large populations with individual advice at relatively low cost.ObjectiveThe focus of the study was the Web-based tailored physical activity intervention Active-online. The main research questions were (1) How effective is Active-online, compared to a nontailored website, in increasing self-reported and objectively measured physical activity levels in the general population when delivered in a real-life setting? (2) Do respondents recruited for the randomized study differ from spontaneous users of Active-online, and how does effectiveness differ between these groups? (3) What is the impact of frequency and duration of use of Active-online on changes in physical activity behavior?MethodsVolunteers recruited via different media channels completed a Web-based baseline survey and were randomized to Active-online (intervention group) or a nontailored website (control group). In addition, spontaneous users were recruited directly from the Active-online website. In a subgroup of participants, physical activity was measured objectively using accelerometers. Follow-up assessments took place 6 weeks (FU1), 6 months (FU2), and 13 months (FU3) after baseline.ResultsA total of 1531 respondents completed the baseline questionnaire (intervention group n = 681, control group n = 688, spontaneous users n = 162); 133 individuals had valid accelerometer data at baseline. Mean age of the total sample was 43.7 years, and 1146 (74.9%) were women. Mixed linear models (adjusted for sex, age, BMI category, and stage of change) showed a significant increase in self-reported mean minutes spent in moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity from baseline to FU1 (coefficient = 0.14, P = .001) and to FU3 (coefficient = 0.19, P < .001) in all participants with no significant differences between groups. A significant increase in the proportion of individuals meeting the HEPA recommendations (self-reported) was observed in all participants between baseline and FU3 (OR = 1.47, P = .03), with a higher increase in spontaneous users compared to the randomized groups (interaction between FU3 and spontaneous users, OR = 2.95, P = .02). There were no increases in physical activity over time in any group for objectively measured physical activity. A significant relation was found between time spent on the tailored intervention and changes in self-reported physical activity between baseline and FU3 (coefficient = 1.13, P = .03, intervention group and spontaneous users combined). However, this association was no longer significant when adjusting for stage of change.ConclusionsIn a real-life setting, Active-online was not more effective than a nontailored website in increasing physical activity levels in volunteers from the general population. Further research may investigate ways of integrating Web-based physical activity interventions in a wider context, for example, primary care or workplace health promotion.

A pilot study on the effects of individually tailored education for MMR vaccine-hesitant parents on MMR vaccination intention

“…An extensive body of research has demonstrated that message tailoring (i.e., providing messages that address each individual's specific concerns, beliefs and experiences) is an effective method for increasing compliance with preventive health behaviors, but to our knowledge has never been applied to parental MMR vaccine hesitancy [17][18][19][20] (though some studies suggest a potential role for message framing and/or decision aids in positively influencing parental MMR vaccine decisions, 21,22 and formative studies suggest a benefit to offering different types of educational materials depending on the degree of parental vaccine hesitancy). 23,24 We tested whether an individually-tailored web-based intervention was more effective than a similar-appearing untailored intervention at improving parental MMR vaccination intention among MMR vaccine-hesitant parents.…”

An internet-delivered exercise intervention for workplace health promotion in overweight sedentary employees: A randomized trial

“…These approaches have only partly shown significant increases of daily activity (Carr et al, 2008;Hurling et al, 2007;Wanner et al, 2009), but direct measurements of physical fitness (e.g. aerobic exercise capacity) have not been assessed before.…”

“…aerobic exercise capacity) have not been assessed before. Wanner et al (2009) compared a tailored website with different activity modules to a nontailored site offering general information and found an increase in self-reported physical activity in both groups, whereas accelerometer data did not change after intervention. Similar data were obtained by Spittaels et al (2007a) in a workplace setting.…”

Reanalysis of a tailored web-based exercise programme for office workers with sub-acute low back pain: Assessing the stage of change in behaviour

“…The internet is useful for providing health information to large specific populations (Napolitano and Marcus, 2002;Wanner Martin-Diener, Braun-Fahrlander, Bauer, & Martin, 2009;Yap, Hemmings, & Davis, 2009). Use of the internet and email is increasing among the work-age adult population (Napolitano et al, 2003).…”