Way to Be Active III (Framing Incentives)
A Randomized Trial of Behavioral Economic Interventions to Improve Physical Activities: Framing Incentives
1 other identifier
interventional
281
1 country
1
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
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable
Started Feb 2014
Shorter than P25 for not_applicable
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
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Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
December 20, 2013
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
January 8, 2014
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
February 1, 2014
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
September 1, 2014
CompletedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
September 1, 2014
CompletedResults Posted
Study results publicly available
December 2, 2017
CompletedDecember 2, 2017
September 1, 2017
7 months
December 20, 2013
September 21, 2017
October 26, 2017
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Proportion of Days Each Individual Walks 7000 Steps Per Day or More
The primary outcome measure is the mean proportion of participant-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.
Throughout the 6 month study
Secondary Outcomes (1)
Average Number of Steps Per Day
Throughout the 6 month study
Study Arms (4)
Control
ACTIVE COMPARATORThe participant will receive either an email or text message (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved their goal for the prior day.
Gain Framing
EXPERIMENTALParticipants will be told that they will earn money for each day they walk at least 7000 steps. Each participant will receive either an email or text message (based on the participant's preference) stating whether or not he/she achieved the goal for the prior day and can collect the earnings. Non-adherent participants will receive messages about how much they would have earned had they met their target step goal.
Loss Framing
EXPERIMENTALThe participants will be told that their account has been credited a certain amount of money for the upcoming 30 days. However, for each day they do not meet their goal of at least 7000 steps, they will lose a small portion of that money. The participant will receive either an email or text message (based on the participant's preference) stating whether the participant achieved the goal for the prior day. Non-adherent participants will receive messages about how much the participant would have kept had they met the target step goal.
Daily Lottery
EXPERIMENTALEach participant will be entered into a lottery daily, but participants will only be eligible to collect their winnings if they walked at least 7000 steps the day before. Participants will receive either an email or text message (based on the participant's preference) stating whether or not they won the lottery and if they met their target step goal. If both occur, the participant will be told how much money he or she won. Non-adherent participants will receive messages about how much they would have won had they met the target step goal.
Interventions
Eligibility Criteria
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:
- A score of "high" on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) activity level scale
- BMI less than 27
- Pregnant or lactating
- Participation in another physical activity study
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- University of Pennsylvanialead
- National Institute on Aging (NIA)collaborator
Study Sites (1)
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 09104, United States
Related Publications (1)
Patel MS, Asch DA, Rosin R, Small DS, Bellamy SL, Heuer J, Sproat S, Hyson C, Haff N, Lee SM, Wesby L, Hoffer K, Shuttleworth D, Taylor DH, Hilbert V, Zhu J, Yang L, Wang X, Volpp KG. Framing Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016 Mar 15;164(6):385-94. doi: 10.7326/M15-1635. Epub 2016 Feb 16.
PMID: 26881417DERIVED
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Limitations and Caveats
Subjects were from single Philadelphia employer; ppts were required to have a smartphone, and their physical activity was not tracked when they did not have smartphone on them; we did not collect baseline data for step counts.
Results Point of Contact
- Title
- Dr. Mitesh S. Patel
- Organization
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Kevin M Volpp, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
- STUDY DIRECTOR
Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA
University of Pennsylvania
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
February 1, 2014
Primary Completion
September 1, 2014
Study Completion
September 1, 2014
Last Updated
December 2, 2017
Results First Posted
December 2, 2017
Record last verified: 2017-09