A tailored web-based intervention to promote women's perceptions of and intentions for mammography

The Internet is rapidly becoming an accepted standard for disseminating and obtaining health information. However, health information presented on the Web frequently is neither tailored to patients' characteristics nor theoretically driven. This study used Prochaska's transtheoretical model to guide the design and evaluation of a tailored Web-based mammography educational program.

This study used a pretest-posttest design to examine the impact of a tailored Web-based educational intervention on women's perceptions of and intentions to obtain a mammography. We hypothesized that a complete tailored intervention (CTI) would result in a significantly higher score than that of tailored message intervention (TMI) in terms of women's perceptions of mammography and intentions to receive a mammography. Both TMI and CTI have been found to have significantly higher scores in terms of women's perceptions of mammography and intentions to receive a mammography than those of the standard intervention (SI).

One hundred eighty-five women were assigned randomly to one of three groups: CTI (n = 61), TMI (n = 63), or SI (n = 61). Online questionnaires were completed by participants at baseline and after completion of intervention.

Study results supported the hypothesis of perceptions of mammography. The CTI group had significantly higher scores on intention to obtain a mammogram than those of the SI group. However, the differences between CTI and TMI groups and between TMI and SI groups were not significant.

Results of the study validated the importance of utilizing theory for tailored intervention design to enhance individuals' positive perceptions of health behaviors. Additional studies should consider the effect of various processes and activities on women at different stages of acceptance of the need to obtain a mammogram to further determine outcomes and apply such to mammography screening behavior.