Open AccessControlled Trial of Worksite Health Education through Face‐to‐Face Counseling vs. E‐mail on Drinking Behavior Modification
Author(s) -
Araki Ikuno,
Hashimoto Hideki,
Kono Keiko,
Matsuki Hideaki,
Yano Eiji
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of occupational health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1348-9585
DOI - 10.1539/joh.48.239
Subject(s) - medicine , alcohol consumption , randomized controlled trial , face to face , health education , psychology , gerontology , alcohol , nursing , public health , biochemistry , chemistry , philosophy , epistemology
Controlled Trial of Worksite Health Education Through Face‐to‐Face Counseling vs. E‐mail on Drinking Behavior Modification: Ikuno Araki, et al. Department of Medicine & Occupational Health, ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha —This study examined the effectiveness of a traditional face‐to‐face health education and e‐mail health education on alcohol usage among male workers in comparison with a control group. Male workers at a manufacturing plant (N=36) who had abnormal serum γ‐GTP were stratified by age and job types, then randomized into three groups: face‐to‐face education, e‐mail education, and the control. The subjects were assessed on their knowledge about and attitude towards drinking, reported alcohol consumption, and serum γ‐GTP before the start of education and 2 months later after comparison of the education. Paired t‐test and repeated ANOVA were conducted to test the significance of changes pre and post the intervention and across groups. In the face‐to‐face group, knowledge (p=0.001), attitude (p=0.026), alcohol consumption (p=0.003) and serum γ‐GTP showed significant improvement. In the e‐mail group, only alcohol consumption showed marginal improvement (p=0.077). In the control group, no variables remarkably changed. These results indicate that the face‐to‐face health education was more effective than the e‐mail program. We discuss why the face‐to‐face approach was superior to the e‐mail approach in this study by referring to self‐monitoring, goal setting processes and timely feedback. We concluded that further studies are warranted to identify the effect of health education using e‐mails and other network tools in consideration of the above three factors.