Cited by 71Workplace Health and Well-beingMobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsBehavioral Health and Interventions

A Web-based health promotion program for older workers : Randomized controlled trial

Open access
Cook, Royer F, Hersch, Rebekah K, Schlossberg, Dana, Leaf, Samantha L·2015·Journal of Medical Internet Research

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence supports the efficacy of programs that promote improvements in the health practices of workers 50 years and older who are at higher risk for chronic diseases than younger workers are. Internet-based programs that promote healthy practices have also shown promise and, therefore, should be especially appropriate for workers aged 50 years and older. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the research was to evaluate the effectiveness of HealthyPast50, a fully automated Web-based health promotion program based on social cognitive theory and aimed specifically at workers 50 years and older. METHODS: The randomized controlled trial was conducted across multiple US offices of a large global information technology company. The sample included 278 employees aged 50 to 68 who were recruited online and randomly assigned to the Web-based HealthyPast50 program or to a wait-list control condition. Self-report measures of diet, physical activity, stress, and tobacco use were collected online before and 3 months after the program group was given access to the program. Use data included number of log-ins and number of pages accessed. The primary analysis was multiple linear regression, following intent-to-treat principles with multiple imputation using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach for nonmonotone missing data. Potential moderators from demographic characteristics and program dosage effects were assessed using multiple linear regression models. Additional analyses were conducted on complete (nonimputed) cases, excluding program participants who used the program for less than 30 minutes. RESULTS: Retention rates were good for both groups: 80.4% (111/138) for the program group and 94.3% (132/140) for the control group. Program group participants spent a mean of 102.26 minutes in the program (SD 148.32), logged in a mean of 4.33 times (SD 4.28), and viewed a mean of 11.04 pages (SD 20.08). In the analysis of the imputed dataset, the program group performed significantly better than the control group on diet behavioral change self-efficacy (estimated adjusted difference [Δ]=0.16, P=.048), planning healthy eating (Δ=0.17, P=.03), and mild exercise (Δ=1.03, P=.01). Moderator and dosage analyses of the dataset found no significant program effects. Analyses of the nonimputed dataset comparing program users with controls found additional significant program effects on eating practices (Δ=0.09, P=.03), exercise self-efficacy (Δ=0.12, P=.03), exercise planning (Δ=0.18, P=.03), and aging beliefs (Δ=0.17, P=.01). Moderator analysis of this dataset also found significant moderator effects of gender on multiple measures of exercise. CONCLUSIONS: A Web-based health promotion program showed promise for making a significant contribution to the short-term dietary and exercise practices of older working adults. Gender effects suggest that the program effects on exercise are due mainly to improvements among women.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2196/jmir.3399

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 38 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [26]Orioli EM Jaffe DT Scott CD StressMap: Personal Diary Edition. The Ultimate Stress Management, Self-Assessment, and Coping Guide 1991 New York Newmarket Press

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Cook, R. F., Hersch, R. K., Schlossberg, D., & Leaf, S. L.
Affiliations
ISA Associate (US)
Corresponding author
Cook, Royer F
Venue
Journal of Medical Internet Research
Published
2015-03-25
Volume
17
Issue
3
Pages
e82
ISSN
1438-8871 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1981193394
Cited by
71
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1
FWCI
10.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Journal of Medical Internet Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • National Institute on Aging (R44AG033964)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
Keywords
older workers, social cognitive theory, dietary habits, physical activity, stress, tobacco use, self-efficacy, program retention, chronic disease prevention, workplace health
MeSH terms
Age Factors, Aged, Chronic Disease, Female, Health Promotion, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Health Behavior, Internet

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review