Demographic And Behavioral Determinants Of Participation In Walking Program With Information Technology

Abstract

PURPOSE: The investigation of the recruitment methods for programs and the characteristics of participants, along with the program contents, would lead to more effective operation of physical activity promotion programs. The purpose of the present study was to identify the determinants of the participation in walking program with the e-mail function of cellular phone. METHODS: The sample was collected from the registrants of Japanese social research company. The company sent their registrants (30-49 years old) the requests for answering the questionnaire. The recruitment of the program was in the end of the questionnaire. In about 13,000 registrants receiving the requests, 4935 who answered all questions were identified as the subjects in the present investigation. The intervention program with e-mail newsletter was offered to all applicants. ANALYSIS: Kraemer's signal detection analysis (Kraemer. The American Statistician, 1988; 42: 37-49) was used for selecting predictor of applicant from potential variables (gender, age, marital status, number of family, educational background, occupation, family income, hour per day spent in television watching, and hour per day spent in internet using, stage of change for walking behavior, and self-efficacy for regular walking). RESULTS: In all subjects, 1268 (25.7%) of them applied for the program. Signal detection analysis revealed that the predictors of applicant were stage of change, self-efficacy, and hour in internet using. As these variables, people were classified 6 groups: 1) precontemplation (N=1285, 9.9%), 2) contemplation (N=1197, 26.4%), 3) over-preparation, self-efficacy<11, Internet use<3 hours (N=958, 24.8%), (4) over-preparation, self-efficacy<11, Internet use≥3 hours (N=450, 34.4%), (5) over-preparation, self-efficacy 11-13 (N=567, 36.5%), and (6) over-preparation, self-efficacy≥14 (N=478, 47.1%). CONCLUSIONS: The present study indicates that those who engage in walking, have higher self-efficacy for regular walking, or use internet more frequently tends to participate in the walking program using information technology. ACNOWREDGEMENT: The present study was Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (16300197).