Computerized Health Education to Promote Physical Activity

Computerized Physical Activity Promotion in Primary Care

This study will test the efficacy of providing primary care physicians and their patients with computer-tailored information, based on patients' responses to survey questions. The health education messages are designed to encourage patients to become physically active and to encourage physicians to counsel their patients about exercise.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Hypertension
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Tailored Physical Activity Intervention

Detailed Description

The main objective of this study is to determine, via a 6-month randomized controlled study, the efficacy of providing tailored physical activity computer reports to patients and physicians. The primary outcome is minutes of physical activity measured by the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall interview at 6 months. The intervention group completed physical activity surveys at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months. Based on their responses, participants received four feedback reports at each time point. The reports aimed to motivate participants to increase physical activity, personalized to participants' needs; they also included an activity prescription. The control group received identical procedures, except that they received general reports on preventive screening based on their responses to preventive screening questions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 394
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
      • Jefferson Family Medicine Associates
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
      • Jefferson Medical College, Department of Health Policy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Ability to speak and read English
• Current patient of a physician participating in this study (if selecting a new physician, may deliberately select one that is involved in the study, in order to participate)
• Ability to complete all written surveys
• Accessible for follow-up telephone surveys
• Ability to undergo exercise testing

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently participating in another research study
• Planning to move out of the Philadelphia area
• Unable to walk without pain
• Pregnant or planning to become pregnant in the year following study entry
• Excessive drinking
• Coronary heart disease
• Congestive heart failure
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Cerebrovascular disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Arrhythmia
• Recurrent seizures
• Dizziness
• Balance problems
• Psychoses

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tailored Physical Activity Intervention Group; Four feedback reports aimed to increase physical activity.	Behavioral: Tailored Physical Activity Intervention; Tailored physical activity computer reports will be provided to patients and physicians.; Other Names: Exercise Intervention
No Intervention: No Tailored Physical Activity Intervention Group; General reports on preventive screening based on responses to preventive screening questions.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
7-Day Physical Activity Recall (7-Day PAR)	Minutes of physical activity measured by the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall (7-Day PAR), which is an interviewer-administered self-report physical activity measure of minutes spent in moderate and vigorous intensity leisure and non-leisure activities over the preceding 7 days. It was administered to study participants at baseline and 6 months.	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Behavioral Processes of Change Between Baseline and 6 Months	Behavioral processes were assessed by asking participants to rate their responses to 24 statements on a Likert scale (1 = never to 5 = repeatedly) to statements such as, "I tell myself I am able to be physically active if I want to. To create the overall measure, individual items are averaged. Higher numbers represent greater use of behavioral processes of change, so that the overall scale retains a maximum of 5.0 and minimum value of 1.0. The scale values are not numerical, they represent scores on the scale, where 5=repeatedly and 1=never.	Baseline and 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); Thomas Jefferson University
• Investigators: Study Chair: Christopher N. Sciamanna, MD, MPH, Jefferson Medical College, Department of Health Policy

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Carroll JK, Lewis BA, Marcus BH, Lehman EB, Shaffer ML, Sciamanna CN. Computerized tailored physical activity reports. A randomized controlled trial. Am J Prev Med. 2010 Aug;39(2):148-56. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.04.005.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2005
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2007
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 19, 2005
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 19, 2005
• First Posted (Estimate): October 20, 2005

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): November 12, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 7, 2012
• Last Verified: November 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Physical Activity; Health Promotion; Blood Pressure, High; Wellness Programs
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Hypertension
• Other Study ID Numbers: 269; 7R01HL067005-03 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); 02F.214 CHIP