Adherence and Attrition in A Web-Based Lifestyle Intervention For People With Metabolic Syndrome

Methods: adherence and attrition data from a randomized controlled trial were collected. participants were classified as adherence group if they completed assessments at 3 and 6 months follow-up and as attrition group if they did not. physical activity and quality of life was measured using the international physical activity questionnaire (ipaq) and the short form health survey (sf-36). generalized estimating equations (gee) was used to explore predictors of attrition.results: the mean age of participants (n=160) was 44.1 years. attrition rate in the intervention and control groups at first follow-up were the same (20%). however,the control group had significantly higher attrition rate (%33.7) compared to the intervention group (%20) at 6 months follow up. results showed that low educated participants were more likely to not stay in the study than better educated participants (or=2.95,ci:1.39-6.33,p=0.05). according with length of the study,attrition was decreased at six month (or=0.66,ci:0.52-0.83,p<0.001). also,some aspects of health-related quality of life contributed to the attrition rate. those who had higher scores on general health (or=0.66,ci:0.54-0.97,p=0.023),social functioning (or=0.44,ci:0.40-0.76,p=0.032),role emotional (or=0.74,ci:0.54-0.98,p=0.18),vitality (or=0.55,ci:0.38-0.90,p=0.015) and mental health (or=0.63,ci:0.45-0.85,p=0.033) were more likely to stay in the study.conclusion: it remains a concern that web-based lifestyle programs may fail to reach those who need it most. participant in the study generally had better quality of life than those who were lost to follow up.background: the aim of this study was to determine adherence and attrition rates in a lifestyle intervention for people with metabolic syndrome. © 2014,iranian journal of public health. all rights reserved.