Dn. Lombard et al., WALKING TO MEET HEALTH GUIDELINES - THE EFFECT OF PROMPTING FREQUENCYAND PROMPT STRUCTURE, Health psychology, 14(2), 1995, pp. 164-170
This study assessed the effects of frequency of prompting (phone calls
once a week versus once every 3 weeks) and structure of prompting (hi
gh versus low structure) in 135 participants (132 women and 3 men) in
a walking program designed to meet the American College of Sports Medi
cine's cardiovascular exercise goals. Survival analysis using 6 months
of data points and using the criteria of walking at least 20 min a da
y for at least 3 times per week indicated an effect for more frequent
versus less frequent prompting (46% and 13%) but not for high- versus
low-structure prompting (30% and 31%). The results suggested the effic
acy of frequent prompting delivered in inexpensive ways as a means to
increase exercise adherence and the further parametric study of other
basic behavior change strategies.