Predicting Participation in a Dietary Intervention to Lower Cholesterol Among Individuals With Hyperlipidemia

• Published in: Health psychology 1996-01, Vol.15 (1), p.61-64
• Main Authors: McCann, Barbara S, Bovbjerg, Viktor E, Curry, Susan J, Retzlaff, Barbara M, Walden, Carolyn E, Knopp, Robert H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Blood; Cholesterol; Diet; Dietary Restraint; Female; Forecasting; Health Promotion; Human; Humans; Hyperlipidemia; Hyperlipidemias - blood; Hyperlipidemias - diet therapy; Hyperlipidemias - psychology; Lipid Metabolism Disorders; Logistic Models; Male; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patients; Predictors; Reduction; Washington
• ISSN: 0278-6133; 1930-7810
• DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.15.1.61

Adult men and women ( N = 8, 748) were given blood cholesterol tests and completed a measure of fat intake and a staging questionnaire that assessed readiness to adopt a cholesterol-lowering diet. Eligibility for the trial was based on plasma cholesterol levels and self-reported dietary intake. Of 772 eligible participants, 545 (70.6%) agreed to join. In multivariate analyses, joiners did not differ from nonjoiners by age, total cholesterol levels, or self-reported dietary fat intake. Women were more likely than men to join the study. Individuals in the preparation stage (defined on the basis of a staging algorithm derived from the transtheoretical model of change) were more likely to join the trial than were precontemplators. An understanding of the determinants of participation in a dietary intervention may be important in the enhancement of high-risk individuals' acceptance of recommendations to make dietary changes.