An online community improves adherence in an internet-mediated walking program. Part 1: results of a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Approximately half of American adults do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines. Face-to-face lifestyle interventions improve health outcomes but are unlikely to yield population-level improvements because they can be difficult to disseminate, expensive to maintain, and inconvenient for the recipient. In contrast, Internet-based behavior change interventions can be disseminated widely at a lower cost. However, the impact of some Internet-mediated programs is limited by high attrition rates. Online communities that allow participants to communicate with each other by posting and reading messages may decrease participant attrition.

Objective

Our objective was to measure the impact of adding online community features to an Internet-mediated walking program

SUBMITTER: Richardson CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3056526 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature