Research

Adherence

A culturally tailored multimedia intervention providing individualized MI and genetic risk scores (GRS) can induce positive behavioral changes in diet and physical activity among at-risk South Asian adults, although the intervention's effectiveness is limited by low user engagement and poor recall of risk information.

For South Asian individuals at risk of heart disease, receiving personalized risk information (including genetic risk) via a multimedia platform can motivate positive changes in diet and physical activity. However, to maximize effectiveness, the intervention should be simplified by removing complex website logins and delivering information directly via email or text messages. Users should be aware that simply knowing their risk score is not enough; active engagement with tailored health goals is necessary, but the frequency of messages should be balanced to avoid fatigue.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Both the intervention and control groups made some progress in health behavior changes related to diet and physical activity over 6 months. Participants reported that their risk score reports motivated behavioral changes... Some, but not all, components of the multimedia intervention are feasible and have the potential to induce positive health behavior changes.
Zainab Samaan et al. · JMIR Research Protocols · 2013

Why this rating

This is a pilot study of a randomized controlled trial design with a small sample size (n=367) and short follow-up (6 months); results show trends but lack statistical significance for the primary comparison between groups.

Source

South Asian Heart Risk Assessment (SAHARA): Randomized Controlled Trial Design and Pilot Study

Zainab Samaan et al. · JMIR Research Protocols · 2013

DOI 10.2196/resprot.2621

rct · n=367Cited 21×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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