UPHS Weight Loss Study

NCT01800591 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 817128
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 201
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to compare a novel approach using financial incentives to changes in health benefit design and their impact on employee weight loss.

Conditions

Obesity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Total pounds of weight lost

  12 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Weight loss of 5% of initial weight

  12 months

Other Outcomes (1)

• Improvements in eating and physical activity habits

  12 months

Study Arms (4)

Control Arm

NO INTERVENTION

No other financial incentive other than for enrollment, 6-month weigh in, and completion.

Delayed gratification

EXPERIMENTAL

In addition to the standard enrollment, 6-month, and completion incentives, if the subject loses 5% of their initial weight by the end of the study, they will receive an annual discount (distributed across bi-weekly pay periods) for 12 months beginning after the 12-month study ends. Their premium will return to normal price after this 12-month discount ends.

Behavioral: Financial incentive

Immediate gratification

EXPERIMENTAL

In addition to the standard enrollment, 6-month, and completion incentives, the subject will be told that they can weigh in again any time before the study ends when they think they have lost 5% of their initial body weight. If they did meet their 5% goal, they will begin receiving a bi-weekly premium discount during the next pay period for a total duration of 12 months. Subjects that do not meet the 5% cut off during a weigh in are allowed to re-weigh themselves as many times as they like although they are encouraged to do so when they think they have met their target weight. Their premium goes back to normal price after this 12-month discount ends.

Behavioral: Financial incentive

Financial incentive with frequent feedback

EXPERIMENTAL

In addition to the standard enrollment, 6-month, and completion incentives, the subject will be asked to weigh in on the IncentaHEALTH scales everyday they are at work. These subjects will participate in a daily lottery with the possibility of winning the same amount as the discount in Arms 2 and 3 over the course of the study. The subject can choose to select or be designated a two digit number that ranges from 00 to 99. Each day a lottery will be held and the subject will be given a 1% chance of matching both digits or an 18% chance of matching one digit. In order to get the lottery winnings, the subject must meet a weight goal that consistently decreases to accumulate to a 5% weight loss by the 6 month mark. After 6 months, the subject will receive the lottery winnings if they maintain that target weight (initial weight minus 5%) until the end of the 12-month study.

Behavioral: Financial incentive

Interventions

Financial incentive BEHAVIORAL

Delayed gratification; Financial incentive with frequent feedback; Immediate gratification

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults age 18-70
• BMI of 30 or above

You may not qualify if:

• Inability to consent
• Illiteracy and/or inability to speak, read, and write English
• Participation in another research study
• Conditions that would make participation unsafe:
• Current treatment for drug or alcohol use
• Consumption of at least 5 alcoholic drinks per day
• Myocardial infarction or stroke within the past 6 months
• Current addiction to prescription medicines or street drugs
• Serious psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., severe major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia)
• Pregnant or currently breastfeeding
• Diabetic and using any medicine besides metformin to control blood glucose
• Metastatic cancer
• Unstable medical conditions that would likely prevent the subject from completing the study
• Previous diagnosis of an eating disorder
• History of unsafe weight loss behaviors such as binging or the use of laxatives

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Related Publications (20)

• Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, McDowell MA, Tabak CJ, Flegal KM. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999-2004. JAMA. 2006 Apr 5;295(13):1549-55. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.13.1549.

  PMID: 16595758 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein E, Fiebelkorn lC, Wang G. The costs of obesity among full-time employees. Am J Health Promot. 2005 Sep-Oct;20(1):45-51. doi: 10.4278/0890-1171-20.1.45.

  PMID: 16171161 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Brown DS, Wrage LA, Allaire BT, Hoerger TJ. Individual and aggregate years-of-life-lost associated with overweight and obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Feb;18(2):333-9. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.253. Epub 2009 Aug 13.

  PMID: 19680230 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Fiebelkorn IC, Wang G. State-level estimates of annual medical expenditures attributable to obesity. Obes Res. 2004 Jan;12(1):18-24. doi: 10.1038/oby.2004.4.

  PMID: 14742838 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Ruhm CJ, Kosa KM. Economic causes and consequences of obesity. Annu Rev Public Health. 2005;26:239-57. doi: 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144628.

  PMID: 15760288 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Brown DS, Allaire BT, Dellea PS, Kamal-Bahl SJ. The lifetime medical cost burden of overweight and obesity: implications for obesity prevention. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Aug;16(8):1843-8. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.290. Epub 2008 May 29.

  PMID: 18535543 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Trogdon JG, Cohen JW, Dietz W. Annual medical spending attributable to obesity: payer-and service-specific estimates. Health Aff (Millwood). 2009 Sep-Oct;28(5):w822-31. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.5.w822. Epub 2009 Jul 27.

  PMID: 19635784 BACKGROUND

• Cai L, Lubitz J, Flegal KM, Pamuk ER. The predicted effects of chronic obesity in middle age on medicare costs and mortality. Med Care. 2010 Jun;48(6):510-7. doi: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e3181dbdb20.

  PMID: 20473195 BACKGROUND

• Stewart ST, Cutler DM, Rosen AB. Forecasting the effects of obesity and smoking on U.S. life expectancy. N Engl J Med. 2009 Dec 3;361(23):2252-60. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa0900459.

  PMID: 19955525 BACKGROUND

• Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA. 2004 Mar 10;291(10):1238-45. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.10.1238.

  PMID: 15010446 BACKGROUND

• McGinnis JM, Foege WH. Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA. 1993 Nov 10;270(18):2207-12.

  PMID: 8411605 BACKGROUND

• McGinnis JM, Williams-Russo P, Knickman JR. The case for more active policy attention to health promotion. Health Aff (Millwood). 2002 Mar-Apr;21(2):78-93. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.21.2.78.

  PMID: 11900188 BACKGROUND

• Schroeder SA. Shattuck Lecture. We can do better--improving the health of the American people. N Engl J Med. 2007 Sep 20;357(12):1221-8. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa073350. No abstract available.

  PMID: 17881753 BACKGROUND

• Claxton G, DiJulio B, Whitmore H, Pickreign J, McHugh M, Finder B, Osei-Anto A. Job-based health insurance: costs climb at a moderate pace. Health Aff (Millwood). 2009 Nov-Dec;28(6):w1002-12. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.6.w1002. Epub 2009 Sep 15.

  PMID: 19755489 BACKGROUND

• Heinen L, Darling H. Addressing obesity in the workplace: the role of employers. Milbank Q. 2009 Mar;87(1):101-22. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00549.x.

  PMID: 19298417 BACKGROUND

• Finkelstein EA, Linnan LA, Tate DF, Birken BE. A pilot study testing the effect of different levels of financial incentives on weight loss among overweight employees. J Occup Environ Med. 2007 Sep;49(9):981-9. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31813c6dcb.

  PMID: 17848854 BACKGROUND

• Volpp KG. Paying people to lose weight and stop smoking. LDI Issue Brief. 2009 Feb;14(3):1-4.

  PMID: 19288619 BACKGROUND

• Volpp KG, John LK, Troxel AB, Norton L, Fassbender J, Loewenstein G. Financial incentive-based approaches for weight loss: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008 Dec 10;300(22):2631-7. doi: 10.1001/jama.2008.804.

  PMID: 19066383 BACKGROUND

• Hallal PC, Victora CG. Reliability and validity of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Mar;36(3):556. doi: 10.1249/01.mss.0000117161.66394.07. No abstract available.

  PMID: 15076800 BACKGROUND

• Stunkard AJ, Messick S. The three-factor eating questionnaire to measure dietary restraint, disinhibition and hunger. J Psychosom Res. 1985;29(1):71-83. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(85)90010-8.

  PMID: 3981480 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obesity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

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

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 15, 2013
• First Posted: February 27, 2013
• Study Start: April 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2015
• Study Completion: April 1, 2015
• Last Updated: May 6, 2015

Record last verified: 2013-12

Locations

US (1)