Examining the added value of audio, graphics, and interactivity in an Internet intervention for pediatric encopresis

A growing number of Web sites provide personalized health interventions using the technological advances afforded by the Internet. It is critical to determine how to best develop these applications to obtain positive outcomes. Several small studies are presented here to determine whether 3 Web components-audio, graphics, and interactivity-should be incorporated. Forty-nine children and their parents presenting to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic for treatment of encopresis participated. They were shown modules of an encopresis Internet intervention both with and without the study components to examine pre to post changes in knowledge, motivation, and readiness to change. Multivariate analyses indicated highly significant pre-post effects for each of the 3 components. To our knowledge, this is the first time specific Web-based components of an Internet intervention were empirically evaluated to determine incorporation in the development of an online treatment program.