‘10 Small Steps’: A controlled trial of promotion of a ‘prudent’ lifestyle in a general practice adult population

The participants in the intervention group received the information related to the ten health behaviours (physical activity, smoking, Body mass index, alcohol intake, vegetable and fruit intake, salt intake, meat intake, fish intake, avoidance of full fat milk and use of spreads other than butter)associated with the health behaviour score (Prudence Score) only. The intervention material consisted of: (1) Personalised tailored feedback: The personalised tailored feedback letter encouraged the adoption of at least one further health behaviour in addition to those already being followed according to the patient’s Prudence Score. The decision as to which additional behaviour(s) to attempt was the patient’s own. All the tailored feedback to each participant was provided on the treating general practitioner’s letterhead using their electronic signature. (2) Health Promotion Information Material: One page health promotion materials were developed and distributed only to those participants whose Prudence Score indicated they were not meeting the national guidelines for a particular behaviour. For example, participants who did not meet National Health and Medical Research Council’s guidelines for vegetable intake but did meet recommendations for fruit intake received only the information sheet related to eating 5 serves of vegetables per day. The study was a factorial trial: firstly the participants were randomised into intervention and control groups and then further randomised to two groups: 1. Receiving feedback at baseline as well as at 3 months (dual intervention and corresponding control group) 2. Receiving feedback at baseline (Single intervention and corresponding control group) Data were collected at 3 months after baseline to assess the effectiveness of the intervention and final data collection occurred at 12 months after baseline to measure the outcomes.