Effectiveness of Web-Based Health Education and Consultation on Health Promotion Behaviors of Adolescents
Condition: Adolescent Health
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Through the training and consultation program conducted via the web for "health promotion,"
      which is an important part of a school's healthcare, interactive communication methods
      between school nurses and students were provided. The results of the study showed that
      web-based education and counseling positively influenced health promotion behaviors of the
      students, and e-health literacy and their knowledge was increased.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background: Adolescent is a critical period for many health-risk behaviours, such as alcohol
      consumption, smoking, having unsafe sex, insufficient exercise, and diet, psychological
      problems, which can be reduced by targeted web-based health education and consultation
      interventions. Web-based interventions have advantages in terms of acceptability and
      accessibility and have shown some study to promote health behaviours and e-Health literacy
      among adolescents.

      Objective: The aims of this study was to examine the effectiveness of web-based health
      education and consultation on health promotion behaviors (ie, smoking, health responsibility,
      nutrition, interpersonal relationships, spiritual health, alcohol and substance abuse,
      positive life outlook, unsafe sex, malnutrition) of adolescents and their e-health literacy.

      Methods: This randomized controlled study consisted of 252 adolescents, of whom 120 were in
      the control group and 132 comprised the intervention group. Sociodemographic characteristics
      of adolescents, internet usage, Adolescent Lifestyle Questionnaire (ALQ), e-health literacy,
      and information levels of the adolescents were determined before the intervention. No
      procedures were applied to the control group. A web-based health education and consultation
      program designed to promote a healthy lifestyle was applied to the intervention group. The
      results were re-evaluated three months after the intervention.

      The investigators first hypothesis is that adolescents in the intervention (the web-based
      education and consultation) group would report significantly higher level of well-being ( ie,
      positive life outlook, stress management, spiritual health and health-related quality of
      life) and health behaviors (ie, health responsibility, nutrition, exercise ) at 3-month
      follow-up compared to the control group. Second, it is expected that participants in the
      intervention group would report a significantly higher level of eHealth literacy and
      knowledge at 3-month follow-up compared to the control group.
    

Intervention name(s): the educational program and counseling
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): to examine the effectiveness of web-based health education and consultation on health promotion behaviors of adolescents, their e-health literacy, and their information levels.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: adolescents; web-based health education; eHealth literacy