Lottery Incentives for Moving

NCT01278654 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: Walkstation2
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 212
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to learn more about effective ways to motivate people to increase their non-exercise energy expenditure exercise. This is an important research question because obesity and weight-related issues are increasingly becoming a problem in America. This project will address this research question by testing the effect of two different incentive schemes in motivating employees who are predominantly sedentary to use Walkstations at work. The Walkstations are treadmills that move at a very slow rate (maximum 2miles / hour) and are attached to a work station (i.e. with computer and telephone); they therefore are designed to increase energy spent not through heavy exercise, but through small changes in posture and movement associated with routines in daily life (called nonexercise activity thermogenesis or NEAT). Subjects will be employees of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). Subjects will be the control participants from the previous Walkstation study we ran with BCBSMA. All 120 control participants from this previous study will be told that they can now participate in a study that involves the Walkstations (up until now, they have not been given access to the Walkstations). These participants from the previous study will be sent an email informing them that they are eligible to participate in this new Walkstation pilot. Those who are interested in participating will then be invited to sign up for an enrollment session. There will be no incentives for participating in the initial enrollment session. For the 2 month follow-up session, participants will have a chance to win 1 of 3 prizes (1 \* $100, 2 \* $50) for completing the follow-up.

Conditions

Obesity; Sedentary Lifestyle

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Walkstation usage

  after approx 60 days

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Biometric measures

  baseline and 60 days

• Questionnaire

  baseline and 45 days

Study Arms (2)

Personal incentive

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

If participants attain their walkstation usage goal, they are entered into bi-weekly lotteries to win money.

Behavioral: Incentive to exercise

Token incentive

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants who attain their walkstation usage goal will be entered into a bi-weekly prize to win a token reward.

Behavioral: Incentive to exercise

Interventions

Incentive to exercise BEHAVIORAL

Participants who attain their walkstation goal will be entered into a draw every two weeks. We are testing the effect of different prizes on walkstation usage.

Personal incentive; Token incentive

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• must pass ParQ

You may not qualify if:

• if fail ParQ

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity; Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Overweight; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 18, 2011
• First Posted: January 19, 2011
• Study Start: March 1, 2011
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2011
• Study Completion: August 1, 2011
• Last Updated: March 19, 2012

Record last verified: 2012-03

Locations

US (1)