Efficacy of an Internet Walking Program for Older Adults

The Internet holds tremendous potential as a communication channel for large-scale physical activity interventions. Findings from recently published studies support the use of the Internet for delivering physical activity interventions, but to date the effectiveness of an Internet-based intervention has not been compared to more conventional interventions. This study compared the effectiveness of an 8-week home-based walking program delivered online with weekly email prompts and the same 8-week home-based walking program delivered via the postal service (standard care) with weekly telephone reminders. The main objective of this study was to examine increases in the number of minutes spent walking for exercise among a sample of 94 (n = 21 male, n = 73 female) healthy, low active, computer users (Mean age = 54.4) randomized to either the Internet or the standard care condition. A repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance indicated that the Internet condition was as effective as the standard care condition in increasing both the number of days and the number of minutes spent walking for exercise per week. Across groups there was a significant increase from baseline to week 8 in the number of days (2.38 versus 3.78, p < .01) and minutes (56.01 versus 131.72, p < .01) spent walking for exercise. These results suggest that a targeted online approach was just as effective as traditional print materials in increasing physical activity in low active adults.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Kinesiology and Community Health

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Jerome, Gerald John

Contributors dc:contributor

• McAuley, Edward

• Health Sciences, Recreation

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3101871

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/86367