2014 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 41-46
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) including heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are by far the leading causes of death worldwide. Multiple risk behaviors, such as tobacco use, alcohol drinking, physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, unhealthy diet and obesity have been identified as major contributors for NCD morbidity and mortality. As such, changing risk behaviors is of great clinical and public health importance. However, lack of the standardized classification system of behavior change technique (BCT) has prevented the researchers and the clinicians from identifying effective BCTs and reproducing behavior change interventions which were shown to be effective. In 2008, Abraham and Michie developed first prototype of BCT classification and it has evolved into Behavior Change Technique Taxonomy v1, which is based on international and disciplinary consensus. This paper aims to 1) summarize such recent trends in standardized reporting of BCT, 2) review applied research on meta-analysis of the relationship between BCT and behavior change, and 3) discuss what kind of efforts are required for developing behavior science curriculum in Japanese Medical Education.
