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Health Education Research Advance Access published online on September 13, 2006
Health Education Research, doi:10.1093/her/cyl096
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received October 24, 2005
Accepted July 17, 2006

Original article

Effectiveness of an online computer-tailored physical activity intervention in a real-life setting

Heleen Spittaels 1, I. De Bourdeaudhuij 2 *, J. Brug 3, and C. Vandelanotte 4

1 Policy Research Centre Sports, Physical Activity and Health, Belgium; Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
2 Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
3 Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
4 Cancer Prevention Research Centre, School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Herston Qld 4006, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
I. De Bourdeaudhuij, E-mail: Ilse.DeBourdeaudhuij{at}UGent.be


  Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-tailored physical activity intervention delivered through the Internet in a real-life setting. Healthy adults (n = 526), recruited in six worksites, between 25 and 55 years of age were randomized to one of three conditions receiving, respectively, (i) online-tailored physical activity advice + stage-based reinforcement e-mails, (ii) online-tailored physical activity advice only, (iii) online non-tailored standard physical activity advice. At 6-month follow-up, no differences in physical activity between study conditions were found; total physical activity, physical activity at moderate intensity and physical activity in leisure time significantly increased in all study conditions between baseline and follow-up. Further evaluation of the intervention materials showed that the tailored advice was more read, printed and discussed with others than the standard advice. Most of the respondents in the e-mail group indicated to be satisfied about the number, frequency and usefulness of the stage-based e-mails. In conclusion, although tailored advice was appreciated more than standard advice, no evidence was found that an online-tailored physical activity intervention program outperformed online standard information.


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