Social and Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Overweight and Obese Veterans

NCT03563027 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: CDX 18-003HX-001922-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 180
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

In this randomized, controlled trial the investigators will compare the use of social and financial incentive-based interventions to increase physical activity among overweight and obese Veterans during a 12-week intervention with 8 weeks of follow-up.

Conditions

Physical Activity

Keywords

Physical activity; Incentive; Wearable device; Gamification

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Mean Daily Steps From Baseline Relative to Control

  Daily steps counts

  Intervention period of weeks 5 to 12 which excludes the 4-week ramp-up

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Mean Daily Steps From Baseline Relative to Control

  Follow-up period of weeks 13 to 20

• Proportion of Participant-days Step Counts Were Achieved Relative to Control

  Intervention period of weeks 5 to 12 which excludes the 4-week ramp-up

• Proportion of Participant-days Step Counts Were Achieved

  Follow-up period of weeks 13 to 20

Study Arms (3)

Control

NO INTERVENTION

This arm serves as control and uses a wearable device to track daily step counts

Social Incentive Gamification

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm uses a wearable device to track daily step counts, is entered into social incentive gamification, and selects a support sponsor

Behavioral: Social Incentive Gamification; Behavioral: Support Sponsor

Social Incentive Gamification and Financial Incentive

EXPERIMENTAL

This arm uses a wearable device to track daily step counts, is entered into social incentive gamification, selects a support sponsor, and receives a financial incentive

Behavioral: Social Incentive Gamification; Behavioral: Support Sponsor; Behavioral: Financial Incentive

Interventions

Social Incentive Gamification BEHAVIORAL

Game-based intervention with points and levels

Social Incentive Gamification; Social Incentive Gamification and Financial Incentive

Support Sponsor BEHAVIORAL

Participants select a support sponsor to receive weekly updates on progress in the game

Social Incentive Gamification; Social Incentive Gamification and Financial Incentive

Financial Incentive BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive a loss-framed financial incentive allocated upfront each week and financial incentives taken away each day the goal is not met

Social Incentive Gamification and Financial Incentive

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Veterans
• Body mass index of 25 or greater
• Access to smartphone or tablet to sync wearable device data
• Interest in participating in a 20-week physical activity program

You may not qualify if:

• Already participating in a physical activity research study
• Unable to provide informed consent
• Unsafe or infeasible to participate
• No access to smartphone or table to sync wearable device data

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VA Office of Research and Development: lead

Study Sites (2)

Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States

Location

Philadelphia MultiService Center, Philadelphia, PA

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19106, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Agarwal AK, Waddell KJ, Small DS, Evans C, Harrington TO, Djaraher R, Oon AL, Patel MS. Effect of Gamification With and Without Financial Incentives to Increase Physical Activity Among Veterans Classified as Having Obesity or Overweight: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Jul 1;4(7):e2116256. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.16256.

  PMID: 34241628 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Limitations and Caveats

First, participants were from a single VA system and needed access to a smartphone or tablet, which may limit generalizability. Second, among the 10,000 Veterans invited by mail, only about 7% expressed interest and only about 2% were ultimately enrolled. These participants had higher than step counts at baseline and may not be representative of the target population for this type of intervention. Third, we evaluated activity using step counts, did not have data on other measures of activity.

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Mitesh S. Patel
• Organization: Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center

mpatel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

215-898-3367

Study Officials

• Mitesh S. Patel, MD MBA MS

  Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Investigator and Outcomes assessor will be masked until the trial is completed and all analyses are finished.
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Parallel 3-arm randomized, controlled trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 6, 2018
• First Posted: June 20, 2018
• Study Start: March 19, 2019
• Primary Completion: June 14, 2020
• Study Completion: August 9, 2020
• Last Updated: September 28, 2021
• Results First Posted: September 28, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (2)