Stages of behavioural change after direct-to-consumer disease risk profiling: two integrated controlled pragmatic trials

This counselling service estimates a personal disease risk of a carefully selected list of preventable common chronic diseases that have both a genetic and a lifestyle component of development. The results are delivered face-to-face by a lifestyle counsellor, simultaneously stimulating initial steps towards behaviour change. This information can assist in lifestyle decision-making.

Methods

The primary aim is to study the effect of the Health Potential® service on change in lifestyle behaviour in distinguishable customer populations. The secondary aims are (1) to study the effect of the Health Potential® service on determinants of behaviour change, (2) to study the effect of additional lifestyle counselling on behaviour change and determinants thereof, and (3) to describe characteristics of the Health Potential® customer.

The study consists of two integrated designs: (A) a two-armed non-randomised controlled pre-test/post-test trial, followed by (B) a two-armed randomised controlled pre-test/post-test trial, resulting in three study arms, allocated at a 1:1.8:1.8 ratio. Participants are clients of local prevention clinics, purchasing a personalised health check (PHC; intervention condition), consisting of Health Potential® and a general health check, or the general health check alone (GHC; control condition) (Part A).

PHC participants will be randomised to receive four additional lifestyle counselling sessions over a period of three months (Part B). Discussion: This research can provide valuable insights in the effectiveness of and possible ways forward in the field of personalised prevention making use of lifestyle interventions enriched with modern genetic advancements.