Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Internet-based health interventions continue to be popular and effective, and one area of focus of such interventions is weight loss. Although African-American women are regular users of Internet-based health interventions, there is a dearth of research regarding Internet usage and website preferences of this group. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between website attributes that influence African American women to use health-related websites, their stage of change for using the Internet to access information on health care, and predictor variables for website ratings.

METHODS: The study used a backwards stepwise regression analysis to determine the best predictor of high ratings of the Eat Healthy - Be Active web portal and the Rating and Evaluating Health Care Websites Survey to measure website attitudes and beliefs and stage of change for using the computer and Internet to access health care information. The participants were 206 African American women who use the Internet.

RESULTS: The regression analysis indicated that the predictor variables were education level, BMI, and weight.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that various factors influence the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions targeted at African-American women. Future research should continue to explore these factors, particularly for groups with higher rates of preventable diseases.

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