The health risk assessment (HRA) has become a widely accepted assessment tool used to help mitigate the rise in chronic disease. However, HRA completion rates are reported to be low to moderate with very limited research focused on factors predicting HRA participation. The purpose of this study was to determine which constructs will significantly predict and influence the intention to complete an HRA in a hospital employee population. Participants of the study included hospital employeeswho had previously had the opportunity to complete an HRA. A cross-sectional design using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TBP) was used to design a questionnaire to determine the variables associated with intention to complete an HRA. From a sample of those who completed and those who did not complete the HRA, elicitation inquiry was used to determine the leading factors associated with the intention to complete an HRA. The responses from this inquiry were used to develop a questionnaire that was sent to a hospital population. A total of 503 hospital employees completed and returned this questionnaire. Using the returned questionnaire data, logistic regression analysis was used to determine the best fit model for predicting intention to complete an HRA. The predictive model was statistically significant at the p<0.001 level. Discriminant analysis correctly verified the predictive model classified intenders and non-intenders the majority of the time. These study results indicated that perceived behavioral control factors such as having time to complete the HRA, confidence in completing the HRA and trust that the information divulged in the HRA would be kept confidential had the strongest influence in predicting participation in taking an HRA. These results help to identify key behavioral-related factors predicting employee participation to complete an HRA. Drawing upon these findings, adminstrators of worksite health promotion programs can systematically explore means of addressing identified participation barriers for the purpose of increasing overall HRA participation success.
