title: Characteristics of visitors and revisitors to an Internet-delivered computer-tailored lifestyle intervention implemented for use by the general public.
abstract: The Internet has become important for the delivery of behavior change interventions. This observational study examines how many people visited, registered and revisited a web-based computer-tailored intervention promoting heart-healthy behaviors when it is implemented for use by the general public. Among registered visitors, the association between visitors' characteristics and initiating, completing and revisiting the website and/or its behavior-specific modules was analyzed. Server statistics showed that 285 146 visitors from unique IP addresses landed on the home page in a 36-month period; of these, >50% left the intervention website within 30 s. In total, 81 574 (28.6%) visitors completed the registration procedure and gained access to the intervention; 99% of registered visitors initiated one module, 91% completed at least one module and 6% revisited the intervention. The majority of the registered visitors were women, medium to highly educated, with a body mass index (BMI) <25. Women, visitors aged 40-50 years, visitors with a medium educational level and visitors with a BMI <25 were more likely to initiate and finish the modules. It is concluded that a heart-healthy computer-tailored Internet program can reach substantial numbers of people, but additional research is needed to develop promotional strategies that reach the high-risk population, i.e. men, older and lower educated persons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands. wendy.brouwer@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oenema
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raat
authors.forename: Rik
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crutzen
authors.forename: Jascha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Nooijer
authors.forename: Nanne K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brug
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors