Effect of health risk appraisal on health outcomes in a university worksite health promotion trial

Data from a 1-year worksite health promotion trial were examined to assess the effect of a health promotion intervention and health risk appraisal (HRA) on health behavior and health status indicators among university employees. Forty-one departments (N = 2198) were randomly assigned to receive: (1) a health promotion intervention and a HRA, (2) the intervention only, (3) the risk appraisal only or (4) neither. After controlling for age, race, gender, job category and the appropriate baseline measure, group assignment was used to predict total cholesterol level, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, exercise frequency, and body mass index (BMI) among 801 employees who completed both baseline and follow-up assessment. Receipt of the combination of the intervention and the risk appraisal or each component separately resulted in significantly lower systolic blood pressure and BMI.