A conversational microcomputer-based health risk appraisal.

We have developed a conversational microcomputer-based health risk appraisal program. This appraisal has been tested on over 200 users at 3 locations in urban and suburban Minneapolis. It was considered helpful by 92% of its users, and 25% stated that they would probably or definitely change a living habit based on its use. All 3 populations considered it comparably helpful, irrespective of their different age and sex distributions. A complex health appraisal, which was formerly assumed to require batch processing on a large computer, can be carried out on a small personal system in an interactive mode. Such a program is acceptable to users and has the potential to motivate change in risky behavior.