Lifestyle Intervention Website Use and Associated Participant Characteristics and Behavior Change among Cancer Survivors (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Internet-based lifestyle programs are increasingly being used to deliver health behavior change interventions to cancer survivors. However, little is known about website use in this population or its associations with healthy lifestyle changes. OBJECTIVE To describe lifestyle intervention website use (logins, time on website, and clicks) among cancer survivors, as well as patterns of use by participant characteristics. Additionally, associations were explored between website use and changes in healthy lifestyle knowledge and practice. METHODS Thirty-five cancer survivors participated in a single-arm pilot test of the SurvivorSHINE website. Knowledge and practices related to healthful diet and physical activity behaviors were measured at baseline and follow-up. Website use (e.g., time spent on the website, frequency of logins, webpage visits, and clicks) were collected from the SurvivorSHINE administrative site during a 2-week intervention period. Patterns of use were examined by participants’ gender and race. Associations between website use and changes in healthy lifestyle knowledge, physical activity, diet, and weight were explored. Independent t-tests were used to compare website use between males and females, and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Blacks (NHB). Pearson correlations were used to examine associations between website use and behavior change. RESULTS Participants logged into the SurvivorSHINE website an average of 3.2 times (SD = 2) over the 2-week period and spent a total average of 94 minutes (SD = 56 minutes). Examining website activity, 1905 clicks were logged. The user profile (344 clicks) and the home sections (301 clicks) were the most visited components. No associations were observed between the frequency of logins or the total time on the website and improvements in knowledge-related to healthy lifestyles, nor in changes in body weight or dietary intake. However, the total time on the website was positively correlated with improvements in accelerometer-measured physical activity (r = 0.74, p = 0.02), as well as self-reported physical activity (r = 0.35, p = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS Cancer survivors demonstrated clear interest in a diet and exercise website as evidenced by their frequency of logins, clicks on numerous features, and total viewing time. Moreover, increased website usage was correlated with improvements in physical activity. CLINICALTRIAL NCT00303875, NCT00630591 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.1007/s13187-021-02026-x