Program completion of a web-based tailored lifestyle intervention for adults: differences between a sequential and a...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Behavioral Science
• Public Health Interventions

Background:

• Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors frequently co-occur and are linked to chronic diseases.
• Web-based computer tailoring is effective for changing multiple lifestyle behaviors but suffers from high dropout rates.
• The optimal information delivery method (sequential vs. simultaneous) for multiple behavior change interventions is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare dropout rates between sequential and simultaneous web-based computer-tailored interventions.
• To identify personal characteristics associated with completion rates in these interventions.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 3473 adults in the Netherlands.
• Participants completed web-based questionnaires on demographics, health status, and lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, diet, alcohol, smoking).
• Interventions included a health risk appraisal and personalized advice, delivered either sequentially or simultaneously.

Main Results:

• A high overall non-completion rate of 71.0% was observed.
• The simultaneous intervention had a higher dropout rate (77.1%) compared to the sequential intervention (65.0%).
• Lower age and unhealthy lifestyle predicted dropout in both conditions; being male predicted dropout in the sequential condition.

Conclusions:

• The simultaneous delivery of multiple behavior change information may lead to information overload and higher dropout rates.
• Further research is needed to optimize program completion and sustained engagement in computer-tailored interventions.