Evaluation of Web-based Interventions to Support People Living With HIV in the Adoption of Health Behaviors

Measured with a single question: "In the past 7 days, have you had a smoke or even just a single puff? (0=no/1=yes)". Compared to biochemical verification (urinary cotinine test), this self-report measure has a sensitivity of 96.9% and a specificity of 93.4% (Noonan, Jiang et al. 2013) and it correlates well with biochemical validation (Velicer, Prochaska et al. 1992).

The level of physical activity will be measured through the adaptation of a procedure elaborated and validated by Godin and al. (1985, 1986). Participants will indicate, during a typical week and for each level of intensity (high, moderate, low), the frequency and the mean duration of physical activity practice.

Measured with the brief tool Starting The Conversation an 8-item simplified food frequency instrument (Paxton, Strycker et al. 2011) derived from a validated 54-item instrument (Jilcott, Keyserling et al. 2007). Item scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 0-16). STC is stable over time and sensitive to treatment/intervention.

Intention is assessed by three items: 1) "I intend to (a: stop smoking, b: do more physical activity, c: make better choices regarding fat in my diet)" rated on a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree; 2) "I will (a, b or c)" rated on a scale from 1 = very unlikely to 5 = very likely; 3) "the chances that I will (a, b or c) are…" rated on a scale from 1 = very low to 5 = very high. Intention item scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 3-15).

Perceived control is assessed by three items : 1) "I feel that I will be able to (a: stop smoking, b: do more physical activity, c: make better choices regarding fat in my diet)" rated on a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree; 2) "I am confident that I will succeed in (a, b or c)" rated on a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree; 3) "how much control do you have over (a, b or c)?" rated on a scale from 1 = strongly uncontrollable to 5 = strongly controllable. Perceived control item scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 3-15).

Attitude is measured by asking participants to respond-using five 5-point adjective pairs (unpleasant/pleasant, useless/useful, bad/good, unsatisfying/satisfying, boring/interesting) to the statement linked to their chosen behavior, "Smoking cessation would be for me…" or "Doing more physical activity would be for me…" or "Making better choices regarding fat in my diet would be for me…". Attitude item scores are tallied for an overall score (range of 5-25).