EFFICACY OF COMPUTERIZED HEALTH RISK APPRAISAL AS PART OF A PERIODIC HEALTH EXAMINATION AT THE WORKSITE

Purpose. To evaluate the efficacy of computerized health risk appraisa l (HRA) when if is incorporated into a periodic health examination at the worksite. Design. A randomized, controlled trial comparing change in health behaviors for a 6-month follow-up period was conducted. Sett ing. A large financial services firm in New York City. Subjects. A tot al of 161 employees who volunteered for a worksite periodic health exa mination. Intervention. All employees received a physician-based histo ry and physical examination, including laboratory tests, and were coun seled on the basis of the results. Half tile employees were randomly a ssigned to receive an HRA report with counseling from the 1984 version of the Centers for Disease Control HRA, whereas the other half comple ted tile HRA questionnaire but received no HRA report or counseling. M easures. Blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight were measured by proj ect staff; physical activity and seatbelt use were measured by self-re port, and change in computerized appraised age was calculated by the H RA program. Results. Evaluation of the 90 participants who returned fo r follow-up revealed a statistically significant improvement in comput erized appraised age and physical activity in those who had received t he HRA report and counseling compared with those who had not (p less t han or equal to .05), and also showed trends toward greater improvemen t in blood pressure, weight, and seatbelt use. Conclusions. Results pr ovide support for the efficacy of HRA when incorporated into a periodi c health examination at the worksite.