NCT02030080

Brief Summary

Employers are increasingly looking for opportunities to motivate sedentary employees to become more physically active. Workplace walking programs have had mixed success and typically show most improvement among participants that are already fairly active at a baseline. The goal of this study is to determine whether a financial incentive program can motivate sedentary employees to increase the number of steps they walk per day to meet a minimum threshold. The primary outcome measure is the proportion of days a minimum activity of 7000 steps or more is achieved. Outcomes will be assessed each week for 3 months using incentives followed by 3 months of follow-up without incentives. Secondary outcomes will include the average steps walked per day.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
288

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Jan 2014

Shorter than P25 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

December 20, 2013

Completed
12 days until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

January 1, 2014

Completed
7 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

January 8, 2014

Completed
8 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

September 1, 2014

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

September 1, 2014

Completed
3.3 years until next milestone

Results Posted

Study results publicly available

December 4, 2017

Completed
Last Updated

December 29, 2017

Status Verified

December 1, 2017

Enrollment Period

8 months

First QC Date

December 20, 2013

Results QC Date

September 21, 2017

Last Update Submit

December 5, 2017

Conditions

Keywords

PedometersWalkingFinancial incentivesSedentary lifestyleBehavioral economics

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Proportion of Days a Participant Walks 7000 Steps or More

    The primary outcome measure is the proportion of days a minimum activity of 7000 steps or more is achieved. Outcomes will be assessed each week for 3 months using incentives followed by 3 months of follow-up without incentives. Below we report the highest mean proportions found.

    Throughout 6-month study

Secondary Outcomes (1)

  • Average Number of Steps Per Day

    Throughout the 6-month study

Study Arms (4)

Feedback 50th Percentile

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

At the end of each week, participants will be told the average daily step count for their team for the previous week. They will also be told the average for the 50th percentile in their arm.

Behavioral: TeamsBehavioral: Daily Feedback

Feedback 75th Percentile

EXPERIMENTAL

At the end of each week, participants will be told the average daily step count for their team for the previous week. They will also be told the average for the 75th percentile in their arm.

Behavioral: TeamsBehavioral: Framing of feedbackBehavioral: Daily Feedback

Feedback 50th Percentile + Lottery

EXPERIMENTAL

At the end of each week, participants will be told the average daily step count for their team for the previous week. They will also be told the average for the 50th percentile in their arm. If their team's average daily step count is ≥ 7000 steps, they'll be eligible to collect winnings from a weekly lottery. Teams whose average daily step count is less than 7000 will receive messages about how much they would have won had the team met its goal.

Behavioral: Financial incentivesBehavioral: TeamsBehavioral: Daily Feedback

Feedback 75th Percentile + Lottery

EXPERIMENTAL

At the end of each week, participants will be told the average daily step count for their team for the previous week. They will also be told the average for the 75th percentile in their arm. If their team's average daily step count is ≥ 7000 steps, they'll be eligible to collect winnings from a weekly lottery. Teams whose average daily step count is less than 7000 will receive messages about how much they would have won had the team met its goal.

Behavioral: Financial incentivesBehavioral: TeamsBehavioral: Framing of feedbackBehavioral: Daily Feedback

Interventions

Feedback 50th Percentile + LotteryFeedback 75th Percentile + Lottery
TeamsBEHAVIORAL
Feedback 50th PercentileFeedback 50th Percentile + LotteryFeedback 75th PercentileFeedback 75th Percentile + Lottery
Feedback 75th PercentileFeedback 75th Percentile + Lottery
Daily FeedbackBEHAVIORAL

Participants will be given daily feedback on whether or not they walked 7000 steps or more the day before.

Feedback 50th PercentileFeedback 50th Percentile + LotteryFeedback 75th PercentileFeedback 75th Percentile + Lottery

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 100 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Age greater than 18.
  • Participant will need an iPhone or Android smartphone to be able to use the Moves App for tracking steps

You may not qualify if:

  • Pregnant or lactating
  • Currently participating in another physical activity study

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 09104, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Patel MS, Volpp KG, Rosin R, Bellamy SL, Small DS, Fletcher MA, Osman-Koss R, Brady JL, Haff N, Lee SM, Wesby L, Hoffer K, Shuttleworth D, Taylor DH, Hilbert V, Zhu J, Yang L, Wang X, Asch DA. A Randomized Trial of Social Comparison Feedback and Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity. Am J Health Promot. 2016 Jul;30(6):416-24. doi: 10.1177/0890117116658195. Epub 2016 Jul 15.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Limitations and Caveats

Participants are from single location and their activity was not tracked when not carrying smartphones. Randomization resulted in uneven # of participants; potentially limiting power for arms with \< 70 subjects. Did not have baseline data.

Results Point of Contact

Title
Dr. Mitesh S. Patel
Organization
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Study Officials

  • Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA

    University of Pennsylvania

    STUDY DIRECTOR
  • Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD

    University of Pennsylvania

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

PI is Sponsor Employee
No
Restrictive Agreement
No

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

December 20, 2013

First Posted

January 8, 2014

Study Start

January 1, 2014

Primary Completion

September 1, 2014

Study Completion

September 1, 2014

Last Updated

December 29, 2017

Results First Posted

December 4, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-12

Locations