Yardley Lucy, Nyman Samuel R
School of Psychology, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
Health Promot Int. 2007 Jun;22(2):122-8. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dam007. Epub 2007 Mar 13.
Falls are very common in older persons and can result in substantial disability and distress. By undertaking strength and balance training (SBT) exercises, older people can reduce their risk of falling. The Internet offers a potentially cost-effective means of disseminating information about SBT to older people and their carers. A particular advantage of using the Internet for this purpose is that the advice given can be 'tailored' to the needs of the individual. This study used a randomized controlled design to evaluate an interactive web-based program that tailored advice about undertaking SBT activities. The participants were 280 people with an age range of 65-97 years recruited by advertising the website by email and the Internet. Those randomized to the tailored advice were presented with advice tailored to their personal self-rated balance capabilities, health problems and activity preferences. Those in the control group were presented with all the advice from which the tailored advice was selected. After reading the advice, those in the tailored advice group (n = 144) had more positive attitudes (p < 0.01) than those in the control group (n = 136), reporting greater perceived relevance of the SBT activities, greater confidence in the ability to carry them out, and hence stronger intentions to undertake the activities. This study provides an initial indication that an interactive website might offer a cost-effective way to provide personalized advice to some older people. Further research is required to determine whether website-based advice on falls prevention changes behavior as well as intentions and whether the advice needs to be supplemented by other forms of support.
跌倒在老年人中非常常见，可能导致严重的残疾和痛苦。通过进行力量和平衡训练（SBT）练习，老年人可以降低跌倒风险。互联网提供了一种潜在的经济有效的方式，向老年人及其护理人员传播有关SBT的信息。为此目的使用互联网的一个特别优势是，所提供的建议可以根据个人需求“量身定制”。本研究采用随机对照设计，评估一个基于网络的交互式程序，该程序可针对进行SBT活动提供量身定制的建议。参与者是通过电子邮件和互联网宣传该网站招募的280名年龄在65至97岁之间的人。随机接受量身定制建议的人会收到根据其个人自评平衡能力、健康问题和活动偏好量身定制的建议。对照组的人会收到从中选择量身定制建议的所有建议。阅读建议后，量身定制建议组（n = 144）的人比对照组（n = 136）的人态度更积极（p < 0.01），他们报告称SBT活动的相关性更高，对开展这些活动的能力更有信心，因此开展这些活动的意愿更强。这项研究初步表明，交互式网站可能为一些老年人提供一种经济有效的方式来提供个性化建议。需要进一步研究以确定基于网站的预防跌倒建议是否会改变行为以及意愿，以及该建议是否需要通过其他形式的支持加以补充。
