• John P Allegrante, Janey C Peterson, Carla Boutin-Foster, Gbenga Ogedegbe, and Mary E Charlson.
• Department of Health and Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. jpa1@columbia.edu
• Prev Med. 2008 Mar 1; 46 (3): 247-51.

ObjectiveTo determine what health behaviors patients choose to change in response to medical advice when they are given the potential net-present value (reduction in biological age) of modifying a behavior.MethodsBaseline data for multiple health-risk behaviors that were recommended for change among 660 coronary angioplasty patients at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill-Cornell Medical Center who were enrolled during 2000--02 in one of two arms of a behavioral intervention trial designed to compare different approaches to communicating health risk (net-present vs. future value) were analyzed using multivariate statistical methods.ResultsAlthough there was no difference between study arms, knowing the biological-age value of behaviors, stage of change, and the total number of behaviors recommended for change was associated with choosing several behaviors. Notably, stage of change was associated in both groups with strength training (intervention OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.85, 4.30; comparison OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.83, 4.43, p<.0001) and reducing weight (intervention OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.32, 4.67, p=.005; comparison OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.80, 3.31, p=.01).ConclusionPatients with coronary disease are more likely to choose strength training and reducing weight regardless of knowing the biological-age reduction of any given behavior.

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