Brigham and Women's Healthy Weight Study

NCT02709642 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1K23HL111211-03
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 42
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if a financial deposit contract is a successful method of helping people to maintain their weight loss. A deposit contract is an agreement in which participants put their own money at risk, with the goal of "earning" it back by achieving a goal, in this case maintaining prior weight loss. The study will also evaluate the interventions using survey research to assess the feasibility and acceptability of the interventions.

Conditions

Obesity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Weight

  Primary outcome measure will be the difference in weight in pounds between their baseline trial weight and their weight at 1 year, controlling for age, sex, race, and baseline weight.

  Weekly weigh-ins from baseline until the end of the study (about 1 year from April 2016-August 2017).

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Success in meeting weight goal

  Weekly weigh-ins from baseline until the end of the study (about 1 year from April 2016-August 2017).

• Number of weeks in which subjects met their weight goal

  Weekly weigh-ins from baseline until the end of the study (about 1 year from April 2016-August 2017).

• Number of participants who report factors of weight maintenance success as assessed by questionnaires

  At Baseline (~April-August 2016) and at completion (~June-August 2017)

Study Arms (2)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Control Participants will complete weekly weigh-ins and receive emails about how their current weight compares to their baseline weight.

Deposit Contract

EXPERIMENTAL

The deposit contract group will also complete weekly weigh-ins and receive emails about how their current weight compares to their baseline weight. In addition, the deposit contract group will be asked to make a deposit of at least $100 each 10-week period over the course of one year (50 weeks). Each week, they will recoup 1/10 of their 10-week deposit if they are within two pounds of their baseline weight or lower. If they are more than two pounds above their baseline weight, they will forfeit 1/10 of their 10-week deposit. The money they forfeited for that week will go into a collective pool to be divided up at the end of each 10-week period by all deposit contract participants who successfully maintained their weight loss at the end of the 10-week period.

Behavioral: Deposit Contract

Interventions

Deposit Contract BEHAVIORAL

A deposit contract (DC) is an agreement in which study participants puts their own money at risk, with the goal of "earning" it back by achieving a goal, in this case maintaining prior weight loss. If DC participants successfully maintain their weight, they get their money back. If they are not successful, they lose their money. For each 10 week period for one year, DC participants will make a deposit of at least $100 but will be allowed to increase their contribution if they would prefer.

Deposit Contract

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• employee of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), Brigham and Women's Physicians Organization (BWPO), or Partners working at the Francis Street complex of Brigham and Women's Hospital (either part-time or full-time)
• years of age or older
• successfully and intentionally lost at least 10lbs within the past 18 months
• had a BMI over 25 at some point over the previous 18 months

You may not qualify if:

• plan to change jobs outside of the BWH Francis Street complex in the next year
• had weight-loss surgery in the past 3 years
• currently on a very low calorie (800 or fewer calories) liquid diet or taking weight loss medicine
• currently have cancer, a severe psychiatric disorder, an eating disorder, or another severe medical illness that may affect weight beyond control
• plan to become pregnant in the next year

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: lead
• Brigham and Women's Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

Location

Related Publications (2)

• 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

• Jeffery RW, Thompson PD, Wing RR. Effects on weight reduction of strong monetary contracts for calorie restriction or weight loss. Behav Res Ther. 1978;16(5):363-9. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(78)90005-0. No abstract available.

  PMID: 743075 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 Officials

• Jason P Block, MD, MPH

  Obesity Prevention Program, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA.

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 8, 2016
• First Posted: March 16, 2016
• Study Start: June 1, 2016
• Primary Completion: July 1, 2018
• Study Completion: April 30, 2020
• Last Updated: July 30, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

US (1)