A cohort of employees in Tennessee (n = 1,602) was subjected to a health risk assessment at baseline. Those who did not meet all 5 healthy benchmarks (n = 836)鈥攂ody mass index, blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol, and smoking status鈥攚ere prospectively assigned to a Web-based personal health assistant and had repeat measurements taken at 90 days.
Of those who both completed the personal health assistant program and underwent baseline plus 90-day assessments (508/836, 61%), 75% were female, mean age was 46.5 卤 11.1 years, and the mean number of risk factors at baseline was 1.1 卤 0.9 with a mean 10-year Framingham Risk Score of 2.9%. This cohort demonstrated a significant reduction in total cholesterol (P < .0001), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < .0001), triglycerides (P < .0001), systolic blood pressure (P = .009), glucose (P = .004), weight (P = .001), and body mass index (P = .001). Most of the participants improved at least 1 risk factor. Framingham Risk 10-year cardiovascular risk percentages were significantly reduced (P = .003).
This study in a prospective cohort of community-dwelling employees suggests that an online WHP can provide a viable means to improve surrogates of CVD risk factors.