MedPath

Computerized Health Education to Promote Physical Activity

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Hypertension
Interventions
Behavioral: Tailored Physical Activity Intervention
Registration Number
NCT00242658
Lead Sponsor
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Brief Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
394
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 & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Tailored Physical Activity Intervention GroupTailored Physical Activity InterventionFour feedback reports aimed to increase physical activity.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
7-Day Physical Activity Recall (7-Day PAR)6 months

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.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Behavioral Processes of Change Between Baseline and 6 MonthsBaseline 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.

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Jefferson Medical College, Department of Health Policy

🇺🇸

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Jefferson Family Medicine Associates

🇺🇸

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

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