"Physical activity Web sites did a commendable job of providing knowledge-based information," write Amol Doshi, M.D., M.P.H., of San Diego State University's Student Health Services, and colleagues in the April issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
"Most were capable of providing general knowledge and guidelines about physical activity as well as general assistance to help the site user," the researchers add. "However, most Web sites did not use the theoretically based strategies of any of four major theories of health promotion."
Each year, at least 60 million Americans use the Internet to obtain health or medical information, the researchers report. However, health promotion Web sites have not been well-evaluated for their application of health behavior theory.
In the study by Doshi and colleagues, two independent experts rated all readily accessible free-of-charge physical activity Web sites in the fall of 2000 using a process developed for that purpose. Each expert was asked to rate the sites using case profiles for two hypothetical users -- a 50-year-old housewife who does not exercise and a 26-year-old graduate student who runs three times a week.
The sites were compared according to their use of four major theories of health promotion and their interaction with users at different stages of behavior change. The raters found that most of the Web sites provided little or no assessment, feedback or individually tailored assistance to users.
The researchers note that tailored messages can increase the chance that materials are read, considered and used to bring about personal change. Tailoring can be based on current physical activity level, health risk, language, medical understanding and individual preferences.
One Web site, JustMove.org, outperformed the others, but "overall there is clearly room for improvement in providing more interaction and tailored assistance for users," Doshi and colleagues contend.
BY SUSAN R. FARRER, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HEALTH BEHAVIOR NEWS SERVICE
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Health Behavior News Service: 202-387-2829 or www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Amol Doshi at doshi29@yahoo.com or 619-594-5332.
Annals of Behavioral Medicine: Contact Robert Kaplan, Ph.D., 619-534-6058.
Journal
Annals of Behavioral Medicine